pinkcherrymama

evil voices...

for the past few days, i have been quietly contemplating the recent news that jaycee lee dugard was found along with the daughters she had with her abductor. i was about 17 years old when she was taken about a mile from my house. it is such a tragedy, not only for jaycee and her daughters, but for her parents and family. i remember all of the talk around town and the accusing rumors; her step-father did it, her parents owed drug dealers money and she was taken out of retaliation...

now, to find out that that poor family went through hell and all the time were innocent, just makes me wonder how all the people who said those horrible things about them feel? i think a HUGE apology is in order.  this is only the beginning of the long road to recovery and building a relationship with her family. it just makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what they all went through and all they have to overcome now. the whole situation is unfathomable.

i just visited the blog written by philip garrido...creepy, crazy, weird...are just a few of the words that come to mind. since i know he has nothing to gain by anyone reading it, 
 i don't feel bad posting the link: www.voicesrevealed.blogspot.com... some crazy stuff!

it is amazing to me that this man claims to be hearing voices from God. i am sorry if this sounds judgmental, but i don't believe that the God i serve has spoken to this man, EVER. the only voices this man could have be hearing were evil voices. the fact that he quotes the Bible makes it all even creepier. even though i dislike the man just as much as probably anyone, it bothers me to see so much hate left in the comments of his blog. getting nasty and dirty doesn't solve anything. it just perpetuates the hate and anger and violence in this messed up world. i have been keeping the following in the back of my mind fall week:

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

the Lord will take care of mr. garrido and his wife. i actually feel sorry for them knowing this because i can't think of any more horrifying punishment than the wrath of God.

just creative stuff today....

just added or soon to be added to etsy...tags, tags and more tags!

 

this week, besides getting the tags done, i went through my house and collected pretty much every frame i own that wasn't black, and spray painted them black. they came out nicer than i had anticipated and here is a small portion of the ones i have managed to get up on the wall...

next project...paint the hall! i have a long way to go since i have about 50-75 feet of hallway walls to cover!

back in june, i threw my daughter a sweet sixteen, alice in wonderland stylee. i forgot to photograph the centerpieces that i worked my butt off making, so here they are...

so here is a simple how-to for anyone who would like to add a fun and whimsical touch to your next party...think who-ville christmas party or funky costume party...

you will need:

various cups and saucers (goodwill, thrift stores, etc.)
 gloss spray paint
paint brushes
acrylic paint
 silicone adhesive

spray any of the cups and saucers that you don't really like the color of, or that have a pattern you don't like. then just decorate them however you like! i used mostly the brush handle to make dot designs and flowers on mine.

once they have all dried, stack and glue them together in a funky, whimsical design. you may have to do only one cup and saucer at a time and let them dry in between to make sure they don't actually topple over. i had to prop some of mine up until they dried because they were so crooked. i painted the insides of some of the cups and used them for toothpicks. you could leave the insides unpainted and serve condiments or food from them. or you could also put fresh flowers in the top cup.

ok, that's it for now. i hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend!

sparkliest friday to you!

~r

batman has an obsession with moon boots!

WARNING: IF YOU'RE JUST HERE FOR THE CREATIVE STUFF, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OR YOU WILL BE BORED TO TEARS!

yes, it's true...batman/spiderman/peter parker, has an obsession with moon boots. he has been wearing them for 3 days straight and i am scared that this may continue for awhile.

today is the first day of school for my girls! my baby girl brittany is at her very first day of high school, yikes! i couldn't help myself and subjected my poor teenage daughters to the grueling task of "1st day of school" pictures...

 

and then, just to prove i have a serious problem, i had to snap this one undercover from the truck after i dropped them off at the bus stop...

and, i can't forget, my youngest daughter got baptised yesterday in lake tahoe...

ok, enough of my kids...or maybe not...

the girls and i drove to L.A. last week and, of course, half the fun is getting there...we encountered 2 herds of elk on our journey... if you look closely, you can see a big buck leaping over the fence...

i then conveniently got us lost in the barrio, somewhere near hollywood...

...and ended up at the "great wall of los angeles", for real, i am not joking....

...but the girls wouldn't let me get out to take pictures...totally bummed :(...

before finally making it back to camarillo where we stayed with my awesome friend, nicole and her family.

 our beach day at carpinteria was a bit chilly, but i was at the ocean and that makes me HAPPY! 

we did the tourist thing and walked down hollywood blvd. something i probably will NEVER do again, but i am glad i did it once. we got to look at the ground at the stars and foot prints, while walking forever in excruciatingly hot and humid weather, all the while toting our cranky boys and better- behaved- than- i- expected girls around and dodging rude tourists and even ruder tour hustlers shoving pamphlets in our face.  seriously, i really did have fun though!

my girls in front of marilyn and janes foot and hand prints from gentlemen prefer blondes...

brittany was content after being able to see MJ's star...

and mr. E.J.O. representing la raza...

and then we were off to simi valley for my sister-in-laws wedding...

i did the flowers and helped decorate. britt helped decorate the tables and kalie had elijah duty for the weekend...

the kids were all in the wedding as well, but i failed to get any good pictures of elijah in his tux...he was too busy having tantrums to allow for it...

after we got back, i was so excited to have my friend come and visit from seattle. we went to russia together as teenagers and have been friends ever since...

here is us then... (she is in the front and i am on the right, 1990)

and now...

now for my creative endeavor for the month; just before i left to L.A., i did a really fun wedding cake. i posted pics of the prep for it, but here is the final product...

the "sand" is made of super-fine sugar, everything else is gum-paste or royal icing...

i decided to write their names in the "sand" at the last minute...

well, that's about it for now. i've got some projects started, as usual, and i'll be posting what i get done this week. i also will be adding more to etsy, so check it out when you get a chance.

have a great day!

~r

me slow down? psh, ya, right! i've got carnivals to go to and cakes to make!

edit: quick note. i just found this awesome website that makes photo books and they are awesome! look to the right of this post at this link . i got to see one first-hand a couple of weeks ago and they are super high quality and look very professional. i can't wait to order one! anyway, just thought i'd share for any of you picture happy people out there!

i have come to the conclusion that the elusive day when i might have some down-time, to catch up on all of the projects that have found themselves becoming dusty on the shelves, may in fact, never come. this conclusion has actually made me feel a bit more free in the sense that now i just won't worry about it coming...if it does actually happen to come, what a surprise i will get!!! that being said, here is a look at what's been going on this past week...

 

my super-duper helpers, made my life a whole lot easier by mixing and kneading the sugar-paste i am going to use for a wedding cake this weekend. the "client" for the cake is actually one of their old youth leaders who has moved to orange county. it 's awesome that they got to have a hand (literally!) in making something for such a special day.

after they finished mixing the sugar-paste, i made molds using real sea shells...

once the mold was dry, i brushed powdered sugar into each mold and pressed sugar-paste into each. i then pulled each cast out and laid it onto a 3x thick piece of batting to dry.

the next step will be to spray everything with an edible pearl paint. 

 i think i mentioned before that big daddy j had the past week off. we filled everyday with something! i was able to take my "small group" girls (which is actually a big group) from church to sushi and the carnival on saturday AND we had a sleepover...can you believe i stayed up past most of them..wimps!

seriously, automatic weapons on a kiddie ride? what the heck?!?!?

gotta love the small-town carnivals! such cheezy, sparkly, awesomely rad fun!

ttfn!

~r