Coffee First & Cocktails Later

Last week I took the Larkspur Ferry with some friends to Marin to see an Altered Book Show
at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art...an annual tradition. 

With a Peets coffee in hand and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge it was a great start to the day...

When I got to the show, I had to laugh, because it sure looked a lot like my studio....

At the show...

See? This is my studio.......

I really liked this piece and...

I found the description quite touching....worked on in a hospital waiting room....I have spent some time in hospital waiting rooms and the last thing I could do was make any art. I think it is very impressive and inspiring that this artist could.

Another piece I liked...

I got to attend the show with one of the artists, bottom right is the very cool work of Punkie Ebert. She wrapped some poems around those spools....

Just bits that caught my eye....

You KNOW I have lots of books that book like these....

My studio

And, of course, there was lunch. A wonderful group of six artists and I'd love to put a photo of us all but I know they would kill me so.....here is what I had for lunch. Blackened salmon salad....delicious.

And, Barcode Barb brought little handmade presents for us all -- vintage matchbooks with her charming drawings inside.
Aren't they cool?

The view on the ride back to San Francisco wasn't bad either....every time I take the ferry I wonder why I don't take it more often......good question..

Well, it is Memorial Day Weekend coming up here in the USA. What are you all doing to celebrate.
It is the official start of summer but here in chilly, foggy, windy SF, I may have to have a nice gin & tonic by the fireplace.
I can live with that.

I'm thinking a movie and dinner date with my guy, some work in the studio, the farmers market....things along those lines.
What is everyone else planning on doing?

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Bless Your Heart, y'all........

After Boston we flew to Richmond (Virginia) and first thing we did was head to Sally Bell's for a boxed lunch.
These are the greatest -- a deviled egg all wrapped up in wax paper, macaroni salad, a cheese wafer  and a sandwich of your choice -- and a fabulous cupcake -- all for $8.85.

The dogwoods were in bloom every where we looked.

Now I know I'm not in San Francisco any more.....

If only I was driving home......

What we did mostly was eat southern food.......so amazingly good.
This is The Boat House, set right on a river.
 (I'm the one in the green)

And why did I not know about pimento cheese? To die for!
This is lunch at the Shirley Vineyards and it is highly recommended by me if you are ever in the area.
The food was amazing.

Supermarket browsing.....

Saucy's BBQ. in Petersburg.
Need I say more? You gotta go.

Antique shopping was fun too -- I bet you can guess which one of these things I did buy and bring home with me.

We were running around so much and hanging out with the fam I had almost no time to work on my travel journal. But, I shoved all my travel ephemera in between the pages and I have finished it since I've been back home in SF.
It's fat and happy -- kind of like I felt when I got home. The food in SF is a little less fattening....
but when in Rome (or Virginia).....

So, I am back to making stuff again. Catching up on mail. 
What are you'll doing? I missed you.

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Swan Boats & Lobsters & Postcards...Oh My!

I'm back home and I'm not that happy about it.
We sure packed a lot of fun into ten days. So much fun that the ephemera just mostly got stashed in the pages of my travel journal loosely....

But -- that's ok because I have already finished a lot of the glueing and pasting since getting home on Tuesday night. It is fun re-living my trip.

But, looking at everything is making me wish I could turn around and fly back...

Boston was really fun, even though it rained on me. Last time it snowed so rain is better...

I scored some vintage ephemera to stash inside my journal too. What would she think of all this?
I wonder.

I think Boston has some of the best postcards I've seen...I love the airmail envelope theme they've got going on...I wish all cities had such cool postcards.

In case you're wondering, the big newsstand in Harvard Square (Cambridge) had them all.

The Boston Tea Party?

Bring on the Tea Party stamps!

The rain stopped and we had a wonderful walk around the Boston Garden. I always say hello to George Washington when I am in town.
My husband refused to go on a swan boat ride with me though....

We spent the rainy day at the Gardner Museum -- a favorite. 

I recommend a visit if you visit Boston....it is near the Museum of Art so you can hit both of them on the same day. Especially if it's raining. Or, snowing. I've been there for both...

These are not San Francisco restaurants.
If you visit, I like Legal Seafoods and Atlantic Fish.

Lobster!!!!!!!
Enough said.

I wanted to cram everything in one post but it would be too long so stay tuned for for Richmond/Petersburg party of the trip next.
And, my travel journal is really rolling along so if you want to see that, raise a hand! Or, a lobster claw.

Real life. 
I prefer vacation.

What has everyone been doing while I've been gone?
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I'm Going Dotty

Hello everyone!
OK, someone on Instagram started doing this and then I started doing this.
Monkey See, monkey do.
But it really is cheap entertainment.

And FUN!!!!

So here's what you do......get out some Staz-On ink pads and some markers...

Go to the Dollar Tree if you live in the USA and get a whole bunch of little packets of DOTS.
Or, have your lovely and generous friend and a new mama to Cora, Jessica send you a bunch of them.....(thanks Jessica!)

Get out some rubber stamps.....
I know you're going to ask.....so these are from Casey's in NYC and yes they do mail order. And they only charge $4 to ship and no, Casey's isn't giving me anything but I wish they would...

I even like the out-takes.
The only tricky part (at least for me) was getting the paper surrounding the DOTS off the sheets. I found if I took one dot off I could easily peel off the sheets and then put the dot back on...if that makes sense...

So, besides making about a million DOTS I am packing my mail art  and collage kit up and taking it on the road.
I love that.

I've already put one page in the travel journal and yes, I most certainly do need a vacation.
And I need lobster.
Boston here I come. Just please please don't snow.

I am gathering up ephemera and sticking it inside my travel moleskin.....collaging will be happening...

I wonder if I will see Denise?

Moleskin and address book -- check! Maybe I should bring some DOTS.

A MYSTERY
I put this on Instagram and I've got a whole bunch of cool people trying to figure this out....and so far, no one has..
I found a secret message under a stamp on a very old postcard (not dated). I think the postmark is Vienna.
Was it a secret message during the war? Or a message between lovers?

This is very old German script and no longer used -- and it is TINY. It was under a stamp after all.
The IG crowd hasn't solved it -- how about you????
Can anybody read this?
Because I sure would like to know....

And, another mystery, does anyone know what happened to LIMNER? Her blog
Oh! Write Me has been taken down and she just disappeared. I am worried.

OK, so get going on those dots. And help me out with the mysteries. And have a GOOD MAIL DAY! And leave me a comment, please -- I miss you.
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