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?