I think I am a sentimental fool

I grew up in Pasadena. The Rose Parade has always been a part of my life. I can't help but to get a little excited as I watch the preparations for the parade go up. I drive up Orange Grove to work everyday, along the way I see the Wrigley House/Rose Parade Headquarters. Giant white tents start going up the last weeks of December. Keep driving and the spectator stands start getting built too. At the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado Blvd the stands are prepared for HGTV, NBC and media in general. Tonight when I drove by tonight workers were busy wiring and lighting and fussing over the perfection of it all. Because of the rain they had to cover the giant lights and cameras with plastic. There is a certain kind of buzz in the city too. I think it's because there so many out-of-towners. About 20 years ago I lived one block south of Colorado Blvd, otherwise known at this time of the year as 'the parade route'. I woke up on New Years day to find strangers playing croquet on my lawn. It was annoying because it made me feel invaded, but I soon got over it when I decided to charge for parking in the driveway and lawn.
The parade is great and all but I like the set up of it all. Drive down to the Rose Bowl and you see floats at their final stages of preparation; take a deep breath and you can smell all the flowers or the roses.
I'm a sentimental fool.
If you are here from out of town stop by Zinnia. We will be open 11am to 2pm tomorrow. Stop by and say hi and check out the last of the Christmas merchandise that we currently have at 50% off. We hope that you have a safe, warm and wonderful New Years celebration and a prosperous 2010.

All righty then... did you all make it through last week okay? I sure hope so because this week is a busy one too. I did want to catch up, it seems like I haven't been on here for a couple weeks but no worries, I'm here. I have to admit that I really enjoy the Christmas buzz, not in that "Elf" kind of way, but very much so. I went shopping with my 13 year old niece Rosie on the 23rd and had a blast. I didn't really have anything else to get but I wanted to be out there. I know insane.


Alley update: Alley was a great shop-cat this year so she got a present. Can you see her new tag? I took one of just the collar because she didn't stay still very long so I could take a decent picture of it, it says, "Not For Sale". We get that question a lot so hardy ha ha we made it a tag. I know clever right? Santamom got me a George Foreman grill and a crock pot. That's what I wanted, I know everyone has one of these or both except for me. I realized I that I am officially not a kid any more when I think that kitchen appliances would be great gift. Oh well I guess I just have to deal with it.

At Zinnia it was so nice to see our friends stop by through out the madness of it all. This weekend Ginny came all the way from Ohio to see us. Okay so perhaps she has family here and we weren't her only destination. Thanks Ginny, your happy face is always a delight to see. Other friends stopped by; Carol, Mike, Marsha, Gregg, Bobby and... wait that's the Brady Bunch. Wrong friends. All jokes aside; we are very blessed with many friends and there is no way I could name you all, you know who you are.

I know I am going on and on but I am almost done. A kind of a cool eco-friendly in the spirit of the 350 project kind-of-thing happened. Zinnia friend Sara stopped by and dropped off a ton of gently used shopping bags from all over the place. She thought that perhaps we could find some use for them and we did. Soon after her visit we ran out of our large shopping bags so instead of ordering more we simply asked customers if they minded a used shopping bag. We told them the story and it seemed to appeal to everyone. (Although I have to say there were many customers that bought their own bags., which was cool too.) Tamara and I
realized that between the two of us we had quite a few bags at our homes so why not ask our friends. So here it is, a call to all of our friends. Bring us your gently used shopping bags and we will give them a second life and actually reuse and recycle them. Let's see what happens... it would be so awesome to actually be able to do something with all those bags we all have tucked away because they are too nice to throw out but don't really need them. So tell a friend and they can tell their friend and their friend can tell their friend.... you know what I mean. We would really like to see where this goes.

Okay so I am done for tonight I hope that you have a safe and warm New Years' celebration. Be safe, be warm and make wonderful memories in the decade to come.

I don't have to explain how busy I have been because I am sure it's no different from what you. All of us at Zinnia hope that you have a safe, warm and Merry Christmas.
I will catch up with you in the next few days.

Last night I was so tired but dragged myself to Trader Joe's, I had no choice. I seem to always put off my trip to Trader Joe's as long as I can because of their parking. Seriously... do they purposely look for property that is sure to be a parking nightmare? Have you seen a TJ's with adequate parking? But I digress. Back to my T'J's story. I go about my shopping minding my own business when an employee approaches me and offers assistance in my search for yummy foods. I say, "no thanks", and go about my shopping. I go home and watch t.v., craft, wrap Christmas presents and call it a night.

Hours later I am getting ready for sleep. I was half asleep when out of no where I realized that the employee at TJ's was dressed up like a giant gingerbread man. My mind starts racing and I come to terms with the fact that a man dressed like a gingerbread man walks up to me and I think nothing of it, no pausing or questioning. I burst into laughter and scare the ba-gee-baas out of my cats, Louie and Miko. Wow, I guess that's the reality of living on La La-land, Los Angeles.

What about that rain? I loved it. I know it's miserable and dangerous but I loved it. On Saturday there were a few times that I couldn't help myself and squealed "OMG look how hard it's raining". I called Alley to me and we walked to the door and sat there with the door open looking at the pounding rain. I'm glad that people were out regardless of the weather and for the most part in great spirits. I had to go next door to the Munch Company and found a river roaring through the alley between the shops. I got a running start and did my best and of course graceful leap over the sudden river. I made it. I was very proud of myself. I know, I'm a dork but it's the little things that tickle me the most.

So my friends the count down is on and I have to get my list ( I really have a list), check it twice and go about getting my crafting and shopping done. Tamara sneered at me when I showed he my list on an envelope with names and ideas for each person. The envelope holds all the receipts for my purchases and clipped to it are any coupons or ads related to my list. So I guess I'm an organized dork.

I hope that this week is not too stressful for you and that you can manage to stay warm and dry.

Who knew you could find Peas on Earth at Zinnia. Well, I do since we made them at the store. Stop by the store this weekend and get some PEAS ON EARTH for $2.99
This is a great gift for the person on your list that has everything... I bet they don't have Peas on Earth.
We hope that you enjoy your weekend... Have fun be merry and enjoy the rain while it lasts

What? No coupons? Come on, you guys can't be that shy, that's too bad.

This weekend was very exciting because we acquired a TON of new things and blings to add to our Doo Dad bar. We have a store friend that for whatever reason has an endless amount of 'stuff, embellishments, ephemera '. No seriously, stuff like small chalkboards like the ones that Laura Ingall used in "Little House on the Prairie." (Confession... I use to call it Little White House on the Prairie. Hey English is my second language.) It took Paul buckling over and letting me know that I was saying it wrong all this time.

Okay I'll focus. We have wood dice with numbers and some with words in a couple different sizes, vintage skeleton keys in an assortment of sizes, old U.S. road maps , vintage book covers, cut up game boards, old TV tubes and connectors, scrabble pieces. Letters on plastic and wood, metal and paper numbers and so much more. There is no way I could convey how cool some of this stuff is. You really need to come and take a look, and get your stash to add to your art work.

Of course I have to post a new Alley story and picture.

Can you see where she has decided is her most recent sleeping place?

Yes, there she is. Customers have walked in and start looking at the things on that display when all of a sudden they realize that there is a cat back there. I really enjoy how laid back she is and how she lets kids play with her.

We still have a great assortment of Christmas gifts and decorations. We also have handmade art that make great one-of-a-kind gifts.

Naughty or Nice?

This is going to be interesting. Our newsletter went out today and Tamara and the gang thought it would be fun to offer a coupon and see what happens... there's a twist. The question really is have you been Naughty or Nice this year. It won't be up to us to judge when you show up with the Nice coupon and we happen to know your naughty secret(s). Santa will know and if you pick the not-so-accurate coupon you can count on a big chunk of coal for Christmas. But wait, there is an out... you could just not believe in Santa and decide that you know you've been Nice no matter what an old (ancient) bearded man has to say. It's my opinion that our Zinnia friends are all NICE but you really know best. Cut the right one and stop by before December 6th.

You didn't get the Newsletter? Stop by the store and sign up on the email list so you get our newsletters. You will be updated on new merchandise, upcoming events and classes and coupons.

Kelly's Journey Book this Saturday

Don't forget to check out the Zinnia class calendar as there are a bunch of extremely cool classes coming up!! With the holidays coming up, handmade makes the BEST gift!

Saturday, December 5^th

Journey book 11 to 3 p.m.

Kelly Kilmer

Many of my students know that I like to vary the size and shape of my journal to ‘keep me on my toes’. In this class you will create a tall, narrow hardcover journal using a special stitch! After binding the book, we will fill the inside pages with paint and collage learning new mixed media techniques. You will walk out of class with a unique handmade book with layered and textured pages created entirely by you!

Supply list: Scissors, small selection of favorite collage ephemera, bone folder, cork back metal ruler, roll of waxed paper, roll of paper towels, permanent black inkpad, container to hold water, 3 1" brushes to glue and paint (I like chip or bristle brushes)

The count down is really on now. So how many of you went out on BLACK FRIDAY? Tamara and I made it a "Pink Friday" with sweet treats and yummy coffee. The store was jumping most of the day, it was nice to see that every one out seemed to be in a good mood and in high spirits.
I am busy trying to get some art made for sale and for gifts. I was out sick from my 'real job' last week because I got super sick. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no energy to craft. And now I feel like I am behind schedule.
I brought a piece I made last year but didn't get it done in time. So it's back again. I made an advent calendar by using a a framed piece of of steel I found at a yard sale that I painted and decorated in festive colors with stickers and Stickles. I numbered tiny tins and added a little trim and a magnet to each one. The tins open up so you can place a special little something for each day. The Doo-Dad Bar at the store is the perfect place to find the treasure for each tin. You can make this too... aside from the frame I got everything at Zinnia. Tins: 99 cents, ribbon (priced by the yard), Stickles: $2.49 each and assorted doo-dads starting at 5 cents.

(I hate that the tins aren't straight and I didn't catch it)

Alley is up and running around again. She terrorizes anyone wearing a long scarf and long dress or skirt. Not sure how to curb this yet but we are trying and mortified when we don't. She got Jana on Saturday... sorry. From the picture below you wouldn't know that Alley is a terror.

Well, we sure hope that you are well on your way with your gift lists or crafting. Please stop by with any crafting needs or ideas. We have a great selection of gifts and handmade art if you prefer to purchase gifts instead of making. Have a great week.

Christmas at Zinnia

Pictures of Christmas at Zinnia.
These pictures are of the trees we have in the gallery.
Pretty cool huh? My favorite is the Peace theme which
features handmade and/or items made using recycled materials.

The other trees also feature handmade items of course.

Hope to see you soon.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Suki

Happy Thanksgiving from the gang at Zinnia

As promised these a few samples of our Pink Christmas that we have up in the window. It really is something to see.

For Holiday inspiration, embellishments, papers and unlimited gift ideas, stop by Zinnia's PINK Friday for some sweet treats and coffee.

Answer to comment... for 9/21 'Weekend Project'

The wool scraps can be used for all kinds of stuff. From time to time we sit at the store and craft. I've made wallets, decorative mushrooms and cupcakes. I will photograph a few samples and post them later this week. I am looking around my art room and I can't find a sample to show you. The small scraps that we threaded together were a spur of the moment thing. We saw that we had ended up with tons of small scraps and we didn't want to just throw them in a bowl so we decided to thread them together. It was too busy at the store but I did get a chance to make a garland that turned out pretty cool. So I promise to get a few pictures of samples up on the blog later this week.
Suki

Waahhh, I've been trying not to get sick for a few days so I have majorly slacked on catching up with you all.

This week we were busy getting our Christmas merchandise out and pretty. The front of the store has fantastically whimsical PINK trees decorated with adorable glass ornaments of elves and pixies. When you drive by the store at night it looks like a box of jewels. In the store we have three themes featured in the gallery. A Peace Theme, a Traditional Theme and a Woodsy Theme. I will have pictures and details posted tomorrow.

Alley Update:
Alley went to the vet yesterday to get 'fixed'. Every thing went well and she was back today. She was super drowsy (drugged) and just took it easy. She should be back to her mischievous -self in a few days.

A few things caught my attention this week that I want to share.

First: RANDOM PICTURE OF THE WEEK

So I was driving up Pasadena Avenue, in Pasadena, CA (south of Bellefontaine Street) and out of the corner of my eye I see weirdest random thing. A fork in the road... ha ha I made myself laugh. Get it? Literally a giant silver fork stuck in the ground out of nowhere. I drove by the fork a few times every time getting irritated with myself that I for got to take a picture. Pasadena is a one-way street so it's not as easy as making a U-turn. Below is a picture I captured while I drove by earlier this week.. Notice no traffic, I was bring careful. The second picture is a close-up of the first. Come on, what the hell is a giant fork doing in the middle of the road. No seriously, I have been too tired to remember to try to find out. I actually forget about it until the next day on my way to work when I see it again. Besides who would I call? The Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk? Perhaps he dropped a fork. Crazy huh?

Second: 350 Success Story

As you know the 350 Project was a great way to get involved. We had artists from all over that included a range of well known, not-so well known and beginners. Some of our friends of the store submitted work after telling us that they had never done anything like that before. Lori Spotts is one of our friends. She painted beautiful portraits of dolls/girls and she blew everyone away.
This weekend Catherine Just stopped by the store to pick up her unsold panels. She shared with us that she had been so inspired by her participation in the project that she opened her Etsy store and is selling her artwork. Catherine describes her work as linoleum carving printed directly on wood panels, paper or blank journals. Her store is: catherinejust.etsy.com
Isn't that cool? Best of luck Catherine and any other artists that were inspired by the 350 Project and have taken their work to another level. Do you have a story?

THREE: Weekend Project

Tamara got busy and found, washed and dried a bazillion wool sweaters that she cut into squares. (Where she gets the energy I don't know) Our wool scraps inventory had been very low and it was time to replenish it. We cut squares 6x6 inches, 4x4 and smaller. After cutting the squares we found that we had a ton of odds and ends that we decided to string together into a cool assortment of scraps. Check it out.

To this...


To this...


... finally this.

Class Schedule

The holidays are so close I can smell the turkey and almost taste that pie!
For those of you who love to make your holiday gifts, don't forget that we still have classes going on... some really great classes!
This Friday Nov. 20th from 11-2 you can learn beginning encaustic with Tyn . A very ancient form of painting with wax, that we will put our own special twist on. Instead of painting with the wax, we will collage, and paint our panels, and use the encaustic medium as a final coat to create a lush finish that can be hand polished- we will also do a really cool image transfer.

On Nov. 21 from 11-3 join Kelly to create a new book-
Kawaii has a couple of different meanings in Japanese, but CUTE is the one that stands out. It is also used to define many of various kinds of decorative designer packing tape. In this class, you will get to dig deep into my collection of decorative tape. We will create a one of a kind book with a fun stitch! You will then dive right in learning new and unusual mixed media and collage techniques. We will be incorporating the TAPE onto the pages as we go. If you’ve never used decorative tape before, this is the class for you! If you have a passion and a love for deco tapes, then this is also the class for you! All are welcome! IF you have your own personal tape that you have been itching to use, please bring some to class. But please note, that the teacher does NOT travel lightly and has several huge bags filled with goodies for you to use and enjoy in class.

On Nov. 22 Paul is going to be showing the ins and outs of working with vintage tins, to create his AMAZING tin dolls.This class is very popular so we suggest signing up early to save a space.

Nov. 29th is a newer class on the schedule- Book in a box- with Linda- stop in to see the sample- it is awesome!!
The December schedule is just as good with embellished canvas, sock creatures, journals, image transfers, and more- lots of fun things to make as gifts to give or if you are like me... to keep!

Please call to store to reserve your space, sometimes space fills quickly and we can not accommodate last minute walk ins. And sadly sometimes classes get canceled if there are not sufficient sign ups. Hopefully something here will spark your imagination, and creativity!

Only 40 days 'til Christmas!

So I am not at the store this weekend but I have a very very sneak peek of the new Christmas window. It probably looks amazing now and this is sooo last week.

On Wednesday evening I was still at my 'other' job working away. I get a call from Tamara at about 6:30pm, she's giggling and wants to know if I am anywhere near the store. Why? Oh nothing, Paul, Joey and Tamara were busy elves minding their own business oooohhhing and awwwiing at the cool pink trees. The three amigos decided that they wanted to see what the tree looked like from the street. A little to the left, to the right. How about in the middle? EEEErrrrrr, uuhm, the keys? Yes, they had worked themselves so hard that they spaced and forgot to undo the lock thing on the door knob. Of course I go and help them out but I have say the three of them looked exhausted but with silly grins on their faces.

Once inside the store there were boxes and lights and paper all over from their decorating/merchandising frenzy.

I have to say I love those three people. It makes me feel good ,hat they knew to call me and that I would be there to help. I am just glad the situation wasn't more complicated... Hello, it was the "So You Think You Can Dance, results show" at 8pm.

The trees look great. Now that we are in a bigger space we plan for a few different themes going on for the holidays and this is just the beginning. I will be sure to keep you posted.

350 Project Art Payment and Pick up

The 350 Project art work has been dismantled. We are delighted by the outcome and the response from the Zinnia art world. We will be making a donation to the 350 Project Organization. The exact amount has not been totaled because we still have artwork and need to determine who and what art work will remain for sale and what will be picked up.

So here is where I need your help. If you submitted any artwork please contact us so we can pay you for art sold and return any unsold art back to you. The artist will receive $14 from each panel sold during the length of the event.

Payment to the artist will be made in cash. We are offering a store credit as payment to anyone who is interested, instead of the cash. It's just an option. Payment will be made in the manner that works for you. The credit idea was suggested by Carol one of the participating artists who stopped by today. The only exception is that the store credit can not be used to purchase any handmade goods.

We ask that you contact us as soon as possible to pick up your panels. With the Holidays around the corner it will be too hectic to keep track of each individual panel. Your help with this is needed and appreciated.

Any unsold art panels will be displayed in the classroom for a short time. After that it is up to the artist to pick up their art. It will be impossible to keep the artwork at the store and keep tabs of the panels. You can also decide to have your art hang in the classroom. How long the art panels will be displayed has not yet been determined.

I hope that I didn't make this too confusing. If you have any questions regarding this please call the store: 626-441-2181 or you can email me directly at: sukimoonpie@gmail.com

Thanks again from all of us at Zinnia; Tamara, Joey, Paul and myself. Mother Earth says thanks too.

After hours

Thanks to Jennifer for sharing these pictures of her son and Alley with us. This is what Alley does after hours... entertains the foot traffic on Mission Street. We trained her to do that when we first got her. Ha Ha.

Sunday's workshop at Zinnia.

Home Sweet Home

With Lisa Guerin
Sunday, November 8th

12 - 3
$65.00

Working with little board books we will

build houses

and then use them to tell a story.

Please call the store by Friday 6pm

to sign up for the class

Lisa Guerin is coming to town

Lisa will be at Zinnia this weekend on Sunday. She will be teaching her 'Home Sweet Home' workshop. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the sample we have at the store. (Perhaps less pictures of the cat, nah.) I will try to sneak away from my 'real job' and get a picture to share. I met Lisa a while back and I am excited that she's back. I am actually considering taking the class but not sure if I can work it into my weekend. She's a hoot and will see what I can work out.
If you are interested in taking this class please do not hesitate to call the store (626.441.2181) and sign up. Lisa has a long drive and we would like to confirm her class by the end of the week.

P.S.: There is an article in the latest Where Women Create that features Lisa. Check it out!

Random Thought of the Week

I'm convinced that if I had a children I would drive them crazy taking pictures of them all the time. I am not going to say Pageant Mom but insane in the same way. My apologizes to any pageant moms that might read this.

Okay so aside from Alley, I have two kittys of my own at home. Miko and Louie. Both rescues, both adorable and both about a year and a half old. They came to live with me when they were 5 weeks old. Aaaaaahhhh!Louie is a bit more needy than Miko and I think it's because he was pretty sickly when I got him and I had to bottle feed him and basically hand-raised him. Miko could careless about just anything, I swear if she spoke English she probably cusses me out and refers to me as 'feeder-person'. I actually think that in Cat world she is a super model and she has a bad attitude there too. All that to say that they are both my kids, my companions and my friends. I have almost convinced myself several times to bring Alley home with me so she can play with them... but then I think better and don't.
Last night while I was watching Californication and Dexter I was making more sock kitties. My two beloved friends decided to snuggle up next to me. I couldn't help it but to take a few pictures. What do you think? Pretty adorable huh?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Sale!
50% off our
Halloween merchandise.
(Excludes handmade items)

Don't miss out.
We will be packing this stuff up
and setting up Christmas.


Reminder: Zinnia will close at 3pm
on Saturday, October 31st.
Hey we want candy too.

This cat is crazy. She found a box full of what us humans call, 'trash' but in cat-lingo it's called 'toys'. I love how she can entertain herself with anything and yet is so friendly an cuddly. She surprises everyone when she actually plays fetch and like a good dog, brings the ball back. Alley has been quite mischievous lately, Tamara likes to say that she's a teenager so she is misbehaving. Yeah, misbehaving. Ha! Last week a REALLY good friend of Tamara's came to the store unfortunately wearing a long dress. Alley ' misbehaved and jumped on her dress... while she was wearing it. OUCH!! Sorry Jill. She's a teenager.
She has destroyed rolls of paper towels and toilet paper. She figured out that the register prints a receipt so she sit on the counter waiting for it so she can snag it. Little misbehaving thief... has stolen the hearts of many and we love her for that.

It's Halloween Already?

I think I am officially 'middle age'. Of course I don't believe it because middle age happens at 65. Right? So let me explain... I catch myself asking, "It's October already? Didn't the year just fly by?"

When I was a kid it seemed like birthdays and Santa took forever to come around. Now I can't get them to stop. All this to say; It's Halloween already? I keep myself pretty busy so perhaps that explains why my time goes by so fast.

I enjoy Halloween but I forgot to pay attention and now it's here and I didn't get my Halloween box out. I didn't display the giant spider decoration or any Halloween stuff. I have a theory; perhaps the people that don't decorate for Halloween and the holidays are just too busy and forget to, before it's too late. I did however, make Halloween cards and mailed them out in time.

Just a thought.

Happy Halloween. Zinnia will close at 3pm on Saturday.

Response to comment on blog:

The art pieces will be up for 10 days. After that if any pieces are not sold it can either picked-up by the artist or you can leave it at the store and we will hang it in the classroom.
Suki

Letter from one of the orgainzers at the 350 Project

This is a little long but I wanted to share it with you just in case you are not on the 350 mailing list. I received this email a few minutes ago.

Dear Friends,

Today in New York was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

As I stood in Times Square and watched images flood in from every corner of the world on the big screens, I finally saw what a climate movement looked like -- and it looked diverse and creative and beautiful.

Please head to www.350.org and spend a few minutes watching the pictures. We need you to feel the strength of this movement, and to see how creative and committed this movement is, all across the planet.

It was so sweet to watch the day move around the globe, with thousands upon thousands of pictures appearing, sometimes a dozen a minute! There were photos of climbers high on the glaciers of Switzerland holding 350 banners, of bicycle parades from Copenhagen to San Francisco, of organizers in Papua New Guinea beating their church gong 350 times while churches in Barcelona rang their bells 350 times. Photos of activists protesting coal plants and celebrating wind farms, of students in 350 shirts repairing their flooded homes in Manila, and of thousands of people marching in the streets of Bogota and Kathmandu. Photos of people from different races and classes, religions and nationalities, coming together around a simple and powerful number to save our planet. Thousands took to the streets in Addis Ababa and Mexico City; we had huge parades in places like Togo and Seattle.

You were by far the biggest news story on Google, on CNN, on the front pages of newspapers around the planet. And these pictures were seen around the world, in newspapers from Beijing to Boston, on TV stations from New Delhi to New York, and on blogs, social networks, and websites across the internet.

Together, we've shown the world that a global climate movement is possible and set a bold new agenda for the upcoming United Nations Climate Meetings in Copenhagen this December. The 350 target is the new bottom line for climate action and world leaders must now meet that target.

We thought we would be tired after many sleepless nights planning this day, but in fact we're more energized than ever. We're preparing to deliver the photos and messages from your events to every national delegation to the United Nations on Monday, and planning to hand the photos to high-level ministers at upcoming climate negotiations in Barcelona and Copenhagen. So if you haven't uploaded your best pictures from the event yet, please do so right away by sending us an e-mail to photos@350.org with your photos attached, with your City, Country as the subject and the body as the action description.

Thank you more than we can possibly say. We'll (of course) be asking you to do lots more in the weeks ahead -- but today, lean back, relax, look through pictures at 350.org, and savor your accomplishment. You were part of what many journalists called "the most widespread day of political action the world has ever seen."

Together with millions around the world, you made a real difference already -- get ready to make much more in the days, weeks and months to come.

With hope,

Bill McKibben and the whole 350.org Team

We Did It... We all Did It!!

How do you spell that sound you make when you wipe your forehead after a day of hard work? It's something like feeeeeew! However you spell it that's how we felt today. Holy Guacamole we cut it close, we got our last panel up at 12:30pm today. Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this cause and Zinnia. Whether you submitted a panel or you are an art lover, or both; your support and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated. With a little help of our friends we pulled it off. The buzz that we were able to create was at its peak at 3:50pm today. We have never hosted an event with this many pieces of art so we were a bit scattered as we got going but I think we pulled it off. And not only have made art available to our Zinnia friends but we will be able to make a monetary donation to the 350 Project in behalf of everyone involved.

Our ultimate goal was to bring awareness to the 350 Project and hopefully encourage us to be more conscience of how we leave this planet for our kids, grandkids and their kids. One by one we can all make a change to preserve the planet we share.

Count Baby-la

This little baby girl Tallulah came to the store today with her caregiver Angee. Tallulah was so cute and happy. I could not resist taking a picture of her and with Angee's permission I had to share with you all. So far, best Halloween costume I've seen this year. Isn't this hilarious?

The 350 Project has already started. Due to time zones it is already 10/24 in other places of the world. We just checked the 350project website and they are posting pictures of projects that are happening now. We submitted more pictures today so we have been added to the 350 Flicker page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/page7/ I googled zinnia 350 project and I was directed to the site. We are waiting for a few more blocks, 7 to be exact so we can photograph the project. I will try to add some pictures to the blog later in the evening when I get home.

The sale begins tomorrow at 3:50pm. We are selling the art off the wall on a first come first served bases. If you have already been here this week and have your eye on the ones you want you will want to be here at 3:50 pm to purchase them. Each art piece will be sold for $26.55

Hope to see you here!
Suki

Sneak Peek!

The panels of artwork are quite a beauty to see in person. They are hung one next to the other with no space in between, all together as one piece of art. It is impressive to see how the variety of techniques, colors and textures create what appears like a quilt...a very beautiful quilt.

The art work is going going up. Tamara has been working to get the panels on the wall as they arrive. The panels will not be for sale until Saturday 10/24 at 3:50pm however you can stop by the store and get a sneak peek and find the one or three or more that you love. Because of the number of panels and the opportunity for error we will be selling the art off the wall on Saturday after 3:50pm. This is a great opportunity to add to your art collection or perhaps a friends collection.

Thanks to everyone who brought in their panels this week... we cut it close but I think we will be fine. No artist cavalry needed after all. Yeah.

That's Clever!

Three years ago the HGTV show That's Cleaver! came to South Pasadena and taped a spot that features Tamara making a Halloween craft. The episode will finally air tomorrow 10/20 at 7:30am, yes AM. I had a link but it was not taking me to the episode so you can view it on line. I will post the link as soon as I work it out.

That's Cleaver!

That's Cleaver is a show on HGTV that does a quick spotlight on artists around the country. Three years ago they contacted Tamara. Yes, three years. Tamara made Halloween art project that was filmed at the old Zinnia store.
The show will finally be aired tomorrow on HGTV at 7:30am, yes 7:30 AM. If you miss it at that time you can go to the HGTV website.

350 Project

Reminder:
If you still have not returned your panels please do so as soon as possible. There are still quite a bit out and this cannot be a 350 Project without 350 panels, your participation is crucial. Please call us if you will not be able to return your panels by Friday, October 23rd so we can plan accordingly.

Annndddd she's back.....

Hello friends, I am back. I am still on vacation from work but I am back in town. I had a great time. I started by going to the bay area and hanging out with my sister, her husband Gordon and baby Eliana. During my stay up there I went to Berkeley and stopped at Castle In The Air. The store was beautiful and filled with a variety of writing tools and papers. It took me a while to look at everything and take it all in without spazzing out about all the cool merchandise. As you can see from the pictures below the store was quite lovely and unique.

While in San Carlos I went to the Art and Wine Festival. The festival featured artists from all over as art fairs do however it was nice to meet new artists and poke around.
I found a super cool store. Okay as you know I am a paper FREAK, I really am so when I popped into a little store called; Scrapbook Depot, I lost it. The selection of paper was ridiculous. There was so much paper there that it was like going through a catalog in person. They also have rub-ons, stickers, tools and everything an artist would need. I met Carina the owner who was really nice and she shared about the classes she offers. She has something called: Crop & Shop on Friday nights 6pm to 12am for $10, crazy huh? However this time is for hanging out with fellow scrapbookers, bring a friend or like my sister put it... leave the baby at home night. This time is for you get some pages done and have the use of their tools which includes a Cricket. I am not a scrapbooker but I can certainly appreciate all the cool tools, papers, rub-ons and embellishments that have become available since scrapbooking became so popular. The website is: www.myscrapbookdepot.com check it out and keep it in mind should you end up in San Carlos some day.

The rest of my vacation was about sightseeing and relaxing. We drove to Hoover Dam then to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon back home through Sedona and the middle of the middle of Nowhere, Arizona. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time is breathtaking. The drive from the entrance to the park is through trees and meadows and is quite a drive after entering the park then suddenly... there it is. Wow!!

I will post pictures on Facebook but here are a few for now.

Back to Zinnia... Have you returned your panels for the 350 Project yet. Come on it's crunch time and they need to get in now to be included in the show. I look forward to seeing all the awesome work that will be exhibited.

Suki

We have started to hang the 350.org show, our grand idea of having it not being viewed till 3:50 on the 24th was a fun idea but we realized that was not going to work out so well. So we have decided that it will start going up now and then be complete and on display from the morning of Oct 21st but the panels will not be for sale until 3:50pm Saturday the 24th giving everyone 3 1/2 days to be viewed as a complete piece. We also thought it was a good idea to let any parents who want to purchase their child's panels will be able to reserve it ahead of time. It is an amazing statement so far and going up easier than we thought it would. For those of you that are still working on your panels (and David you know who you are) please get them in soon :-)