A warm welcome to TaZoChel

 I now have a new place to land. TaZoChel in downtown Kingsville is the new home to my Cedar Junktion upcycled clothing and other creations. TaZoChel is owned by Tommie Sue Reeves. It is a sweet consignment shop specializing in clothing with a mix of eclectic home items which includes wonderful homemade soap.

I have really missed creating the clothing since Southern Hearts closed its doors at the end of the year. I really appreciate what Michelle and her family provided for me while the shop was open. It was a delightful place to be. Now, Tommie Sue is giving me a fresh opportunity and she is a pleasure to work with.

Look for this label. See how I re-spelled my company name? I thought it was fitting.

This one is a fun summer dress. (notice the sugar skull at the top)

You can follow TaZoChel on facebook, too.

Soon, several of my pieces will go to the shop. First, I need to finish a few projects in the workshop before it gets crazy-hot! Catch ya later!

The River Walk at San Antonio

A few months back, we went to the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio to see many of the golf greats play. It was a wonderful time. We saw Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk, K. J Choi, Matt Kuchar, Lee Janzen and a whole bunch of others. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was lovely.

One of the tents that was set up on the way to the course was giving good deals for hotel stays in San Antonio. Since we spent our honeymoon in San Antonio, we decided that it would make a good get-away for us. We decided that the Sheraton Gunter would be a nice place to stay. It was so-so.

For lunch, we ate at Tony Romas. Pretty nice view, huh?

They are famous for ribs, but I chose these wonderful steaks. One was covered with wild mushrooms and one was covered with asiago cheese. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. Calories, shmalories. I ate every bite! Of course, it just didn't seem right to have that wonderful steak without some wine to go with it . . . 

I really ate good that day because for supper, we went to Landry's Seafood which was also right on the river. There, I had the grilled mahi mahi. Of course, I had to get more wine to wash it down with. LOL.

How's that for a view?

For our after-dinner entertainment, we went to Howl at the Moon. That place was ROCKIN'!! They play live music by request and they are very good. 

The drinks were pretty good, too. Mine was a special concoction of vodka, gin, rum, tequila and pineapple juice. It was so yummy, I had to have two!

For lunch the next day, we walked down to the marketplace to eat at La Margarita. We actually ate outside there, too. Some silly man was feeding the pigeons right at the table. Fortunately for us, they were about to leave soon after we were seated. His wife was being patient with him, but she clearly thought he was being silly as well.

I thought the bathroom door was so cool. I want one for my house!

I wish I could bottle up the wonderful weather and the view. I soaked as much of it in as I could.

We also at at the Saltgrass Restaurant. There, I had the grilled shrimp and a baked sweet potato. Yum, yum, double yum!

On our last night there, we floated between Howl at the Moon and Mad Dogs. Mad Dogs was okay, but not as fun as Howls. At Howls, all I had to do was tap the table and nod and they knew exactly what kind of drink to bring me. (insert smile here) We will definitely go back. In fact, I'm thinking that I would like to make this trip an annual thing.

I can't stop myself!

I made another this afternoon. It features a working barometer that has a cute fairy that was created by Lisa's Altered Art perched on it. This one is going to my booth at Betty's tomorrow.

Assemblages are FUN!

This piece is similar to another that I had created a while back. I think this bird is an imposter. LOL. A friend of mine gave a piano to me that had already been taken apart. Lucky me! I used a couple of the hammers to make this little guy's wings.

It's fun to make assemblages. What is not fun is trying to get a good pic of them. There must be some trick to photographing glass, but I haven't figured it out yet.

I will be taking these to Southern Hearts a little later today.

Vanity desks

If you are looking for a fine antiques that have been preserved, loved and well-cared for over the centuries, you probably won't find them in my booth. I prefer character. There are certain vendors that I visit each time I go to Warrenton because they carry pieces that have been banished to the barn. 

 This poor piece had some of its embellishments missing so I just broke out the sander and smoothed out its rough edges. The last time that I went to Lowe's, I scored some wonderful paint + primer from the mis-tint bin. It goes on like butter.

 Sometimes, it's a bit like putting lipstick on a pig, but that is the fun of it. You just can't create this kind of character. This kind has to be created over time.

Warrenton 2013

 A whole bunch of awesome, all in one place.

 Just tent after tent of goodies to dig through.

 My husband LOVES Pearl beer. Not really sure why, but he does. I thought of getting one of these for him, but for what they were asking (and rightfully so; they are quite rare) he could buy lots of beer.

Don't you just love this embellished guitar? I would love to tell you who this is, but I can't find her card! She is so sweet and an amazing artist.

I stopped by Junk Gypsies to get a t-shirt and the whole JG gang was there. Amie was real sweet and posed for a photo with me.

 Don't you just love the soulful look on this sweet cow's face?

This was such a cool car. The owner realized that I was preparing to take a photo, so he paused for me. You see such cool things at Warrenton!

Cheers!

A couple of weeks ago, I was interested in working up some tool boxes. Then, out of the blue, the idea struck me that wine totes could be lots of fun. Life is just more interesting when there is wine involved.

First, I made a prototype to work out the kinks. It's a good thing because it underwent several changes. Also, since I have some label holders in my stash, I thought that using them would be a excellent way to include some wine-related sayings to the totes. It didn't stop there. Since they would display better with wine bottles in them, I've been doing my best to make empties. Maybe I am an over-achiever. LOL.