My Granddaughter's Hat

My youngest granddaughter Maya bugged me all summer to make her a hat. Usually, I try to do anything I can to make my grandchildren happy but I just didn't have a design for a hat in my creative bag of tricks.

































Every time she would ask I answered 'yes sweetheart, grandma will make a hat for you' but truthfully, I didn't have a clue where to begin. As the months went on, every weekend Maya came to me and said 'grandma, did you make my hat?' Five-year-olds like elephants, never forget. I was beginning to feel guiltier and guiltier every week because I knew I was putting her off. About two weeks before Christmas, I found this great yarn that had so many wonderful colors in it. I remembered that I used to crochet a little and of course, the light bulb came on. Here was the basic ingredient for Maya's hat. I added some matching ribbon flowers and some rhinestones to give some "Bling". These are my granddaughters Maya and Relena wearing 'original' Cre8tiv Glory hats.

Twelve Yards of Muslin

My creative spirit kind of went into hibernation after the holidays. I couldn't seem to get inspired to begin anything new. I decided to go shopping last week at all of my favorite fabric, craft and art stores to see if I could jump start my creative spirit with some new materials.

I bought some fabric pens and some watercolors from Utrect Art Store and then visited a few fabric stores and bought some half yard pieces of print fabric that I thought would inspire me, I sat in the car and looked at my purchases and thought 'now what?' I decided to go to Hancock Fabrics on my way home.

I walked around the store with that 'I don't know what I'm looking for but I'll know it when I see it' attitude. They had a great sale going on but there wasn't anything I really wanted. Then I saw a sign that said $1.00 off all cotton muslin fabrics.


I found a bolt of bleached white cotton muslin for $1.99 a yard. The bolt hadn't been cut yet. The fabric was a close weave, sturdy and had a good weight and there was 12 yards on the bolt. Suddenly, I could see all of the possibilities that this plain white bolt of fabric could become. Instead of white, I could see rainbows of color and prints.

Who knew that this was the inspiration I was looking for and what a great bargain. With the $1.00 off per yard, I got all twelve yards of 45" fabric for $12.00. I couldn't wait to get it home.

I pulled out all of my paints and supplies and instead of thinking 'now what?' I was thinking 'what first?'

I am beginning a new creative journey with my 12 yards of muslin. I can't wait to see what and how many projects my plain white cotton fabric will inspire.

I will share my creative journey here with you. I'll keep you posted on each new project.

A Finished Project

In the midst of all of the craziness, I managed to finish another doll. She was inspired by the singer Beyonce. She turned out so pretty but decided to call her "Sasha Fierce" who Beyonce says is her alter-ego. The singer says that she is basically a shy person and sometimes has to reach inside of herself to be the beautiful star that she is. She calls her alter-ego "Sasha Fierce" who is the talented, strong, out-going woman who lives inside of Beyonce.

A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

I can't believe how long I've been away from one of my favorite things...this blog. The last few weeks have been busy, hectic, sad, crazy, stressful, informative, enlightening, joyful, successful and so much more.

Business at The Market Place has been phenomenal. This time last year, we were praying for customers and they just weren't coming. This year we have people who are literally waiting at the front door before we open.

My boss weathered the storm through a bad economy, the negative opinions of other people, sabotage, frequent bouts of bad luck and The Market Place is stronger than ever. I am very proud of her. Her faith and perseverance have rewarded her with success.


Because we've been so busy, I've been
working six days a week and on my only day off I've been trying to make my own business grow. I finally did open displays of my dolls, cards and Christmas items at two other locations. Some of my dolls are now happily living at "Studio 5 Art and Design" in Sacramento owned and operated by Jan Hollins who is a fabric designer and an interior designer. Her husband, Lawrence Sullivan is an amazing fine artist who paints unbelievable portraits and murals. I will share some of their work on this blog in the very near future.

The third location that will now be carrying "Cre8tiv Glory" designs is "The Flower Collage & Lifestyle Design" at the Brickhouse Gallery also in Sacramento. More about them in the near future as well.

Needless to say, the work has been non-stop and the holidays slipped up on me before I knew it. Thanksgiving was pretty sad for me. I'm having some family problems at home so instead of staying at home and grieving about it, I decided to take one of my mini-vacations to a place that has always had happy memories. I drove 2-1/2 hours to the Bay Area to Coyote Pointe. We had

so many family picnics and get-togethers at this beautiful place. I wanted to put my feet in the 'salt water'. When my kids were small and I was a single parent the car we had wasn't in the greatest shape but I could get us to Coyote Pointe in about 30 minutes. My kids always felt like we had really been somewhere when we went there. Sometimes it was only peanut butter sandwiches and kool-aide in the thermos but we were someplace different than being at home. Later, when my boys were much older, we had huge family get-togethers with cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews and tons of family friends. My mom and I would buy and freeze hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken legs for a few months until we had enough to feed everyone. We had baked beans,

macaroni & cheese, potato salad and anything else that anyone wanted to bring.

So, on Thanksgiving day it was cold, wet, raining, cloudy, windy and absolutely wonderful. A few quiet tears remembering the past and lots of joy reliving the same memories. I felt alive and hopeful for the future that is in my own hands.




I would love to know what these two are talking about???








Could this be another alien abduction?? Just boots, no body.

There is a peaceful symmetry in the shades of white and blue and the repetition of the masts.

These folks also took a less traditional route for Thanksgiving by going fishing.

I wonder if these birds are giving thanks for not being Thanksgiving dinner.

In the midst of so much rain and gray skies, this beautiful sunflower stood out like the sun itself

Even the fungus seems to be celebrating the day.

Gorgeous coy fish in a scientific environment.

The doorway to the future??

Love and celebrate your families with every opportunity you can get. Never let anyone or anything come between you and your families. They are the most valuable thing have.

A Finished Project: More Glamour Sox

Just finished another group of Christmas stockings. I love the shiny reds and greens and golds.

This one is more traditional.

A Finished Project: Glamour Sox Christmas Stockings

Every year I make Christmas stockings to sell. This year, I will be selling my stockings in 3 or 4 different locations in addition to my own space. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I have 2 confirmed locations and 2 pending. Anyway, I wanted to create some very unique designs to compliment the business that will be carrying them. These are some of my first designs for the first location (more info on the location later).

I wanted this set to be beautiful, glamourous and exotic using rich colors and eclectic fabrics.

I had so much fun choosing the embellishments. I used huge rhinestones, beaded fringe, eyelash fringe and animal prints.

I thought about what kind of Christmas stockings would Paris Hilton, Beyonce and Lady Ga Ga buy.

I wanted to share them here with you. Watch for the other collections I've designed for my other ckients.

Living In Sacramento: An Injured Coyote

I am still amazed at some of the things that I see since I've been living in Sacramento. I grew up in the South Bay Area, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale areas. Most of the areas there are city and suburbs. I saw your ordinary cranky squirrels, raccoons would often raid my trash cans and now and then I might have to drive around a stubborn opossum who didn't want to get out of the middle of the road.

But since I've been in Sacramento I have had close and personal experiences with wild turkeys, snowy egrets, sand hill cranes, turtles in the park, a snake coming through the front door at work, huge jack rabbits on the front lawn and 'herds' of Canadian geese flying over head. Most of these experiences, less than a block away from my apartment.

On my way to work this morning I came out of my street and in the field just before I got on the freeway I thought I saw a cougar or some kind of large cat. I parked the car and grabbed my camera to take some pictures. After I took a few photos I decided that it was just a dog. When I got to work, I loaded the pictures on to my computer and the woman standing next to my desk said 'oh my God, it's a coyote'. The pictures showed that he wasn't doing so well. You can see that he's been hurt, possibly, by the hawk that was dive bombing him. The field has been the local buffet for the birds of prey because there are so many jack rabbits. The coyote was digging to try to get at the rabbits.

It was very strange to see the animal out in the open at 11:00 in the morning in such a populated area. He was just yards away from the local Starbucks, the gas station and the grocery store. He wasn't walking well and he seemed to be disoriented. Not good for the coyote or for the kids that would be walking home from school in just a few hours. The animal was obviously sick and might charge a small child.

I called the Sacramento Wildlife Rescue to report this poor guy but got caught in a sea of recordings, voice mails and referrals. I almost gave up, but on the last call, I was in the process of leaving a message on one of the volunteer's voicemail. I explained that I thought it was pretty urgent and fortunately, the volunteer picked up the phone. I didn't realize that she was in Nevada but she knew how to get in touch with the right people without going through all of the recordings. Hope Mr. Coyote can be helped. I'll let you know if I get a call back from the Wildlife Rescue.