Where the SLOcals go

This is my favorite place in San Luis Obispo! Pirates Cove is not a city or state beach so the rules are a little different. Be warned, clothing is OPTIONAL, not required.




This is what Pirates looks like on the hike down

This is Pismo from the hike down to Pirates.

Me and my friend enjoying a perfect day at the beach (Left). The view we enjoyed all day (Right). Of course no day at the beach is quite perfect without some world famous clam chowder from Pismo. There is always a line out the door and around the corner but it moves quickly and is totally worth it! There is also the option of calling it in which I recommend as it saves time. Surf cafe does serve other things but their clam chowder has won the Pismo clam chowder contest almost every year since it started so you definitely don't want to miss it!

These two are from the view on top of the trail down to Pirates, as always, the views are spectacular!

California

I  went to California to visit my dad, here is a summary of the trip:

This is the car Caleb rented. He planned on a mustang to drive up the coast from San Diego to Lompoc but the very cleaver rental guy was like "did you know that for only $10 more per day you can rent a GT?" To which Caleb replied "sold!" So we rented the GT. We enjoyed seeing how fast it goes, FYI it will beat out a 2006 Hemi Dodge Charger.

  I love Santa Barbara! It looks like this 335 days of the year! Sunny, moderate temperature, GREAT food and friendly people! We eat at Chucks Waterfront Bar and Grill every time we go. Their food is good, various, and for SB, reasonably priced.







My dad loves to grill out, and his food is amazing! He always eats well and spends a good amount of time on his food. He grilled out for me and several of my friends while I was there. Good food, friends, and booze, what more could you want?

Scrunchies

 Today I worked on these. I really like them because it is the perfect way to change a sloppy "I just got off work" bun into a nice hair style. They are easy to make and perfect for girls of any age. They are an accessory that can compliment any outfit no matter the occasion or complete lack there of.

 

 These are the tools you will need. It can be hand stitched but that is time consuming. A bead spinner is also not necessary, it just saves time.
Start by cutting the cloth of choice into strips that are 4+ inches wide by 18+ inches long. If you want it to be more ruffly, make it longer.
 




 Next fold the long ends in. I shoot for at least 1/4 of an inch when I work with this material. It is silk I brought back with me from China and it frays like nobody's business!







Again, because of the material type, I iron it down so that it has a distinct crease. This is certainly not necessary for all types of fabric but with things that have a mind of their own, I find a little extra direction saves me a lot of trouble.

*Here's a tip: ironing small bits of fabric does not require a full sized iron. I prefer to use my straightener as often as I can!




Pin the ends together around the ponytail holder. I like to exercise the ponytail holder so that I can make sure it wont do that thing where the elastic looses its connection and stretches out. Why put all this work into something that isn't going to last at least a while?
 
Sew these bits together and start on the bead work. Use any pattern you like, I haven't found one that looks bad yet. Fringe looks nice but keep in mind its tenancy to get tangled up in hair.

Opals

        As I mentioned before, I am in the process of moving. Consequently, all of my craft stuff is EVERYWHERE! So I have taken some time to work on other projects (I have soooo many) that have been neglected for a little while for favor of better work space. I picked up this hobby some time ago and to date it is probably my favorite. The short of it... I take rough opals and turn them into wearable jewelry. Let me show you the process.



It really begins with finding good rocks and ordering them. That in itself is an adventure. Sometimes the process takes weeks. Then there is the anxiously awaiting their arrival. When shipped from all around the world, then going through customs, most of the time, that part alone takes about a month. By the time they come, the suspense has built to a paramount level.

These first 4 pictures are of one rock. This is what it looked like when I started. I took several to show different angles so you can fully appreciate the time and work that goes into it. It truly is a journey with many road blocks and few freeways.


The first step is to work on the shape and remove as much of the debris as possible. I try to retain as much of the natural shape as possible so I don't try and make perfect squares or diamonds or anything typical. My goal is to smooth our rough edges and make at least one face flat, though sometimes I end up with nothing flat at all. These two pictures were taken after I removed as much debris as possible and made the shape more smooth and agreeable.


These final 3 pictures are the product of the polish. I have not been able to take good pictures of Opals, it is unbelievably challenging and never to my satisfaction. But you can see this rock has an amazing color range! It literally houses every color on the planet

Opals, a Breif Introduction. Part I

Opals are amazing and truly unique! Every Opal is different than every other Opal even though they are molecularly similar. So what makes that brilliant flash? In a word, Silica. When light penetrates the rock and hits silica orbs infused with water, they act like a prism and bend and separate the light into all the colors of the rainbow. That is the secret to the amazing play of colors we see in these rocks!

Even though Opals posses the same light manipulating properties, no two opals look alike. However it is very interesting to compare Opals from different mines. Maybe I have spent way too much time looking at Opals but I can see some distinct characteristics that are unique to particular mines. Let me show you what I mean. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/118993615130836647/

 

To the left, you see Mexican Fire opals. They are a yellow to amber color with flashes of color all through out. Mexico is known or these types! I'm sure there are other places that have opals that resemble these but I haven't seen them yet.

https://www.opalauctions.com/learn/opal-information/australian-opal-fields

 
To the right you see an Australian Opal. It is blue and green and orange. Australia has a massive diversity when it comes to Opals. They have black, white, boulder and crystal opals. And each of those genera has a massive amount of diversity within it.

https://www.opalauctions.com/learn/how-to039s/how-to-identify-

 

This is an Ethiopian opal. The only way I can really explain the difference of this type of opal is the way it reflects color. It seems like it is on the surface of the Opal. And I usually get a lot of green and red when I order from there.




Because the radiance of the Opal depends on the amount of light that is able to penetrate it, domes are preferable and most common. Sometimes I see them faceted but I wouldn't say that adds anything to the stone at all, they simply aren't that kind of rock. Because Opals by nature are entirely unique, each and every one, that is why my preference for cut is free form. I feel it enables a rock to retain its individuality.
Something else to keep in mind is the level of diversity. These rocks are examples of what I commonly see from a particular mine. That does not mean that all rocks that come from these places look like this. Sometimes opals from Australia look like those from Ethiopia etc.

This is a topic I am passionate about so if you have any questions or comments feel free to message, comment, email whatever strikes your fancy!

Houma Louisiana

In addition to moving this weekend, I am on a  short trip to Houma Louisiana. Why the heck would I leave the comfort of Dallas and drive 7 hours to Houma you ask? That's a good question,  I started feeling stagnate and loosing patience and inspiration so it was time to shake shit up and go on a mini-trip. I found this going out of business sale at a Hancock Fabric's, 60-80% off, SCORE!!!! I couldn't help myself!











I also sampled some of the local cousine. I was told I couldn't go wrong with Cracklin and Boo-Dam-Balls. Deep fried deliciousness in cajn !

I also had the privilege of visiting the local court house where I saw something interesting...  Does every court house have multiple fall out shelters, or does Louisiana know something we don't??? I wasn't sure if I should feel safe or scared ha ha.

Drinking with Scissors

My mom used to get onto me for running with sicissors, I wish she had warned me about drinking with scissors... The result may not have been detrimental to my health but it was certainly fatal to my hair style. My bangs went from down to my waist to my cheek!