After my trip to Ojai, I was inspired by all the flora and fauna.
Recently I found some great vintage perfume bottles with removable lids. I decided to embellish them with crystal flowers and other findings. I thought these lovely bottles would be wonderful to hold essential oils or perfume.
Recently I had the opportunity to travel back to California to see my daughter who is in University there and to visit the world I left to live in Idaho. It was truly SO beautiful.
My girlfriend, Lydia who is a water color artist from Laguna Beach came to visit. My mom, nieces (ages 5 and 8), and myself had the opportunity to paint with her in my sister's garden. Lydia is a self taught artist who began painting after being bedridden because of a car accident years ago. Due to a back injury, she couldn't move very well for about a year and decided to try water color painting during that time. Inspired by music and the medium Lydia found her passion and talent. She is an inspiration to me and so many on so many levels.
Her site is www.delgadowatercolor.com.
Spending time with my family, especially my mother and watching HER paint again was really wonderful.
I wanted to share photos of all the California foliage, and what was an inspiration to us only because it took my breath away. 
Cactus Flower....these flowers are so large...about 6 inches!
View from my sister's balcony....feeling fortunate to be able to visit and see such beauty. I felt like I was breathing in all the color....especially green!
We called this the "fried egg plant" growing up but it is actually a poppy that grows in certain places in California.
Back in Idaho, tiny leaves are starting to show themselves on the trees, and I am back at my studio. I will be posting more of my altar and devotional pieces as I make them.
Springtime.....I am so glad it is finally here! It is getting warmer and the grass on the hillside is getting greener.
In the spirit of springtime, renewal and new beginnings I created this piece. Although I have an attachment to every altar piece I design and create, every once in a while I make one that I just have to keep for myself. I just connected to this piece. It is simple yet elegant to me. It stands ten inches tall and four inches wide. The sterling silver rosebud on crystal chandelier chain is a little off center with delicate glass beads that lead to a dangling sterling silver dragonfly. The mandala reminds me of nature waking up as it begins to burst in a delicate new way.
I have been working with some brass jewelry findings to embellish the crosses and mandalas and to add strength to them. The little metal pieces I added to the cross form "vines" that travel up from the base of this cross to the center which features a sterling silver rose. Two faceted crystal quartz teardrops sit at the base of the cross.
My grandmother's sister Victoria, who like my grandmother, has had an altar in her home FOREVER. She is quite the personality. A vibrant older Sicilian lady who is 4 feet something tall, she still works at a job, and is well into her 80's. She says her rosaries daily, reads tarot cards, never married, smokes cigarettes and is known for her JUNK JEWELRY. She has tons of it! I would classify her as a gypsy soul. She is also my Godmother.
She has been sending me some of her junk jewelry. Not really sure what to do with it all, I decided to make a cross out of one of the necklaces and pin.
Working with the mother of pearl amber beads and a clover pin that is accented with mother of pearl and small rhinestones, I created this cross that sits atop a amber bottle.
Thinking green, Irish, St. Patricks Day....Spring....I added green glass accents to this small cross on a vintage bottle.
This antique bottle, that has now turned shades of purple is accented with a sterling silver rose bud mandala. Square, flower, and octagon chandelier crystals accent the piece. It is 12" tall and 6 " wide.
So many people including myself.....were so concerned about me moving from Southern California to Idaho. The concern was the weather. How was I going to deal with it. Whenever I met new people they would ask me (before winter came), "how will you deal with the cold coming from So. Cal"? It was really the "unknown" for me. I couldn't calculate "cold". What was it going to really be like to live in "cold" weather?
What I discovered is.... that it wasn't the "cold" that was so difficult at all. I found myself still riding my bike in the snowy weather....and actually liking it. There were some beautiful times. Giant snowflakes....the freshness of snow. Being bundled up.
The difficult part was the lack of color.....especially the color green (which happens to be my favorite color). Today as I look out into the backyard I see dormant grass and trees that are twigs and branches but no leaves....no green....no snow. This in between place. I know that spring is coming and along with it the color green!
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