This was a long road trip and on the way home I stopped in Tucson to visit a friend, and we spent a day at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  We could easily have spent a week looking at all the beads, and minerals and gems, and still not seen it all.  What an awesome display of beauty and glitz. Below are a couple of wonderful crystal stones, and two pieces of African handwoven indigo fabric.  I brought the fabric home with me, but unfortunately I couldn't bring the crystals.  Maybe next year, but I'm thinking that fabric will make a nice Boro type jacket.  Will let you know.

These are a few pics of some work I did after one of Kay Khan's workshops.  I'll do more, and I can see these ideas used in clothing embellishments.

After the workshop I stayed at a nearby hotel in Santa Barbara to unwind a little, and on Friday took a trip up the coast of Piedras Blancas to see an Elephant Seal Rookery.  There were thousands, literally, of mothers and babies and a few males.  The breeding season hadn't quite begun yet so the really big males were just beginning to arrive.  But what a site this was.  Those alpha males can weigh up to 5000 pounds.  And it was wonderful to just enjoy that beautiful north central California coastline.

There were 16 of us in this retreat/workshop in Montecito, California, just south of Santa Barbara, a really beautiful place to spend a few days. Near the beach, great weather (a little rain, but not bad), a wonderful and talented group of ladies, good food, and lots of fun shopping in nearby Santa Barbara.

These are vest pieces that I was working on in the workshop.  I'll send pics when the piece is finished, but this gives you an idea of what I was doing, and a piece Diane brought to show a reconstruction and wild collar.

Well, I'm sure you won't be surprised, but I'm off on a new exploration.  I've always worked with fibers and fabrics in one form or another, but recently I took a workshop with Diane Ericson (Ashland, Oregon) and Kay Khan, (Santa Fe, NM) called Design Outside the Lines (DOL), working with clothing design,  re-purposing, and embellishment.  What a fabulous, fun time I had.  Definitely over my head, but what a learning experience.

Diane and Kay

Kay demonstrating