Welcome, Bienvenidos!

Love Conquers All


Love really does conquer all. Love and respect for yourself first - who you are, what you do. Then you have love to give to others from a good, kind generous place. Piglet is so cute and I am going to write names and other sentiments like Siempre, Amore, U R ..., etc. Or the word love in different languages. Red little Kitty speaks for herself! I am enjoying baking these almost too much - they are addicting right now!

Purrrr! Happy Friday

Happy Friday - sending gratitude and love to all who have supported me!
Still baking and I realized this morning that the cookies are a way to de-stress. Another canvas that is a comfort.

Good News!

The good news is that there will be a sample of the mosaic tape sent by Maryland Mosaics to test the word area of the this project before going further. The concern is that the Tile tape must be sticky enough to lift the glass pieces from the contact paper.
The application method is called Double Reverse and the glass pieces are applied to a clear sticky surface face up. When ready to adhere to the board, a very sticky tape is applied to the surface of the mosaic to lift it From the contact paper, then the contact paper is peeled from the back.
Since this is a project that will be for an exterior site I will be using Laticrete concrete adhesive to attache the glass mosaic to the hardi board. A one shot deal, so I want to test what has been done so far. Nervous - a little. Excited? Very! This application method was just featured on the mosaic group CMA on a mural installation tutorial and I know it's time for me to learn this new method. When finished, this glass mosaic sign will have thousands of pieces. I have observed that it is convenient to have all of the pieces stay put instead of shifting and this method allows for easier changes. Thanks again to Maryland Mosaics for the sample. This project is a pro bono and the Rescue and Rehab Wildlife center runs on donations. I am donating the labor and did not have the finances to order a product that I was not sure would work.

a pre-photo of new designs. All cookies are individually sealed right after baking and decorating for freshness. The sugar cookies have a shelf life of about a week or more, depending on how they are stored. The bunnies are so cute and the Piglet with a Heart will be decorated today. These are a blast to make!

Moonlight Delights



More cookie designs finished. Each sugar cookie is individually handmade making for a unique edible little work of art that I initial a signature at the bottom. Before packaging the some of cookies are backed with dark Girhidelli chocolate for an extra gourmet touch. The shelf life of these Artisan cookies is easily ten days. A perfect gift that I have given to family, friends and clients since 1988, many kept their cookies for weeks, claiming they were too pretty to eat and reported that they tasted "wonderful". Currently I am experimenting with sealing individual cookies in an air vacuum packages like the Seal-A-Meal concept. For now they are still individually sealed in zip lock bags as soon as the icing is dry. They give me great pleasure to make - obviously since I am still baking and the Christmas holidays are past!
Valentines and Easter will be my testing time to find out if people want to buy my tasty, edible art!

Arizona Centennial


Guess what?! Out of 225 entries, my mosaic Gila Dream was one of the ones selected for the Tohono Chul Park Arizona Centennial exhibit! Yay! I am thrilled that one of my favorite pieces will be on display. Tomorrow is the reception so I will be there with my little name tag to meet everyone, mingle and of course snack on the bites catered by Trader Joes.
Can't wait to see the rest of the fabulous art. I always love the anticipation of seeing what is in the rest of the exhibit!

Moonlight Cookie Mania



Still making my lovely sugar cookies. It's a winter thing. I enjoy baking on a chilly evening while listening to a book or music. The cookies are another canvas that is relaxing and makes me happy.
I have about 70 vintage molds and will eventually catalog all of them for a new site on Etsy so stay tuned! The key is to give my "photo models" to friends so I don't eat them!

I will be having a Valentines cyber studio sale and will be including these mini mosaics in the sale.
The mosaics are about 4" and the cookies range from 3" - 5". Both make very unique specialty gifts.
The cookies are made to order and come wrapped in a clear bag with a ribbon tie. Some are on my Facebook album.

Moonlight Cookies





2012 is of to a great start. I am finally making my specialty cookies to order. Since the late 80's I have been making gourmet art sugar cookies for family, friends and clients as holiday gifts. The sugar cookies are made from vintage molds I have collected since the 80's.
When asked to make more my response has been " I don't have time".
This year I just kept baking in the evenings to unwind and now am looking into making them to order.
Last week I asked an aquaintence at a cafe about selling cookies and showed her some of the cookies and she Loved them and said if I want to market my very unique cookies I would first have to get "certified". O.k., so I have to get someone from the county health to come inspect my kitchen and pay a 56.00 fee - yikes!
This week I will find out more about the inspection, possibly get a checklist of what they want etc. Meanwhile cookies are still being made and posted so I have a link with photos to show. So far the cookies are being posted on my Facebook album and this blog. Should I put them up on my website, or have a seperate site/blog ?
Let's see if this idea is worth taking further. Meanwhile the house smells like fresh cookies - Yummm!

Holly's Gracie


Gracie was a fun and challenging commission - I have always loved horses and years ago had a beautiful Arabian mare Arabit Inturah out of Fadur lines. Hope I got the spelling right - it's been a while.
After finishing this commission I visited the Al-Marah Arabian horse farm and fell in love with Arabians all over again. There is a huge Arabian horse event in Feb. at West World that I will be attending. and a small event this weekend at the county fair grounds. Time to go back to horses and get re-acquainted with an old love.
This is the year to embrace all that makes me happy and I love. Stay tuned for my new Cookie making endeavor.

The Girls







Well I have been so busy that I neglected all the posting :~(. Here is my last commission I was able to squeeze out just a week before Christmas. I love the way it turned out.
Lately I have been painting more that mosaics. Had some personal and financial setbacks and now the painting is easier on my hand. Since I am a dog and animal lover, painting them is one of my favorite things! Will be getting back to a mosaic I started and can now work on again. Can't wait - I have really missed my mosaics!!
This is a 24x36" acrylic of Jordi, Maci, and Dani - The Girls. Painted on museum quality gallery wrap canvas as a surprise gift for a very lucky husband.
Tip: I use mirror/picture boxes from moving supplies that fit up to this size perfectly for transporting. Nice, sturdy box for 5.00.


Tina Humphrey Crufts 2007

The relationship between these two is so special. They deserve so much credit! It is exhausting to watch, yet amazing. Memorizing such a long routine is NOT easy for human or dog - extraordinary!!!

GIRLtopia

I liked what this video had to say and would love to get involved in next year's Girltopia event. What a great concept to empower our nieces, daughters, granddaughters, students.