Travels

01/12/2012

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For Christmas, my sister got me the book Travels With Charley by one my favorite authors, John Steinbeck. It's about his travels around the U.S., the people he meets, and the situations he finds himself in. I have to say, I'm finding a lot of similarities between me and him - his knack for getting lost, the way he handles certain social situations, and the fact that he is able to come up with the perfect response to someone hours after the fact. While I now have the luxury of gps to rely on, he would have missed many of his encounters if he hadn't taken some of his unintended detours. However, I think I'll keep relying on the gps for now...
I'm still in the middle of reading it, but it is giving me the road-trip bug. So, to hold me off until I can make a bigger trip, I grabbed a pal and headed right up the road to Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum, which is one of those quirky places that is featured in a lot of road-side attraction books. It is practically in my backyard, so it was a shame that I had never been there.
While there are several giant elephant statues, the museum itself is a collection of elephant memorabilia that the owner has collected on his travels throughout his life. 
There is also a store with tons of cool stuff I had never seen anywhere else... like these adorable packs of gum:
Any Pez you could ever want:
Cute:
They have every nostalgic candy you could want, as well as homemade goodies. And, since I'm making an effort to try new things, I got some chocolate honeycomb, which is sort of a hard-toffee coated in chocolate. Pretty good!
I also picked up some fudge in cookie dough and maple flavors (came with a cute little knife!):
And I can't say no to anything labeled "salted caramel":
Definitely a fun little trip! I'd love to hear about any off-beat attractions in your town!
 
 
I spent last week at the Outer Banks with my family. My favorite time to go out to the beach is early in the morning, because it's not too hot and there are not many people. Here are some photos from one of my peaceful early morning strolls:
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Yesterday I took a little road trip to Lancaster, PA. I had worked out a couple of trades with artists in the area, so I was able to get those taken care of while I was there. I don't normally do trades unless it's something that I was wanting anyway, so I'm really excited about what I got!

The first trade was for a mug from Phil Kreider. He's an awesome potter with a studio in Lancaster. I wish he had a website so you could see more of his work! You can see more information about his studio here. If you're interested in seeing more, just let me know and I can get you more info. His wife Lauren makes really cool buttons out of clay, which you can find in her Etsy shop: BeCeramicButtons.Etsy.com. I was in need of a nice big mug for my coffee, and this one is perfect:
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My next trade was for a giclée print from Julia Swartz. I had been eyeing her work for quite a while, so I am excited to finally own something! This one just kind of jumped out at me - a girl looking out the window into the world... I imagine her thinking of all of the possibilities out there:
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If you are ever in the Lancaster area, her studio is right above the Prince Street Cafe. Not only is she super talented, she also has an amazing story of overcoming cancer, which you can read about here.
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They both wanted the same pair of earrings for the trade, which was the sterling silver Berry Earrings:
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As a side note, no trip to Lancaster is complete without some Shoo-fly Pie. Here is one of the stands at the Green Dragon, which is a HUGE farmer's market/flea market in nearby Ephrata.
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This week I've been busy working on my inspiration board and designs for Spring 2012. Can't wait to start working on the pieces for this collection!
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And just a few more pictures from yesterday's jaunt to the beach:
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Well, I was able to do a little bit of a getaway on Friday to Gettysburg. My friend was part of a ladies night event at the Gettysburg Hotel, so I got a couple of free tickets.
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It was kind of fun since we got some freebies, including free food - the highlight of which was the crab balls from Taverna 5450. Sooo good.
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My sister went with me, and we were a little bummed we were missing Jane Eyre, but Jane Eyre wouldn't have given us free crab balls.
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The streets had emptied out by the time we left, but there were still a few people milling around, so we took a little stroll. Such a cute town.
 
 
Sunday was such a nice, almost warm, day. My boyfriend and I decided that we needed to get out and take a walk. Our walk ended up being a search for a rock cliff, which ended up taking us to the top of a mountain. We realized that we weren't quite close enough to the rock cliff to walk to it easily, so we decided to just enjoy the spot where we were.
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I was excited to find some ancient ruins in the middle of the woods. Okay, maybe not "ancient", but inexplicable scrap metal and an old fuse box is still pretty interesting... and a touch creepy. I really like the color combo of blues, reds, and oranges (including the rust!) I wonder how much thought was put into the color when it was made. *ponders*
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If you want to see more pictures from my adventure, check out my Flickr!
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I'm not really hittin' the road, but I am day-dreaming about warmer weather and fun mini-road trips on a warm spring day. So, here's my off-the-beaten-path road trip inspired outfit: 
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Fall Fun

11/10/2009

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I'm getting back into my regular routine (whatever that is!) now that my big Art on the Farm weekend is over. It was such a fabulous time! The breakfast they prepared for the artists on Saturday was amazing, and of course the food sold during the show was delicious, as well. Oh, and the art was fantastic, too! I kept hearing how so many artists want to be in the show, so I really feel honored that I can be part of it. There is such a nice mix of different types of work - I think putting the show together is an art in itself! 
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my booth
 
 
Happy Labor Day everyone! This past Friday I headed downtown with some friends and my sister to check out First Friday in Chambersburg. We started out at Bistro 71 for a bite to eat and sat outside on their patio to enjoy the nice weather. We then made our way down to the square where artists had tables and displays set up of their work and a band was playing. We also stopped by Kaleidoscope where I'm going to have my jewelry soon, so my sister and I had a friend take a picture of us in front of it :) It definitely wasn't as happening as First Fridays in larger cities, but it was cool to see that there is an art community here that seems to be growing. 
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My sister also gave me my belated birthday gift this weekend. Her friend Jen makes these really cool mini dress forms, so she had one made for me! My sister apparently didn't give her much to go on as far as colors and such, but she really did a beautiful job! I love the colors and prints she used. I hung some bracelets on it, but I also like it just by itself as a little piece of art.  
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I decided I should start blogging, so here I go! I think it will be a good way to keep everyone updated on new items I'm creating, as well as anything else that's going on in my life. 

I don't have any new jewelry news since I just got back from the Outer Banks, so I'll share a picture I took while waiting for the sun to rise one morning on the beach. It was a little cloudy, but it did eventually show!

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My weekend ended by hanging out with friends around a campfire... mmmm s'mores!
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