Acomplishments, Celebrations, Sorrows, Beginnings and History

Yes, all of the above has happened to yours truly within the past 14 days. It's amazing how fast life moves. I mean seriously, the twists and turns, so unpredictable and so wonderful. This blog is a true testiment about how precious life is, and how we so need to make the best of it. All of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. Oh I know the ugly can seem so unfair, but it happens. Most likely for a reason. Oh we may not like the reasoning, but in the end I at least try and learn from my mistakes.

But I digress. So, I'd like to share the past few milestones that a few people I love in my life have accomplished. I was lucky enough to bear witness and enjoy and celebrate their moment. It is these moments that I like to store in my heart and reflect often. Especially when I encounter a bump along the way.


This first pic is of my baby sis. She has been living with us for the past 5 years, since my father's death. Last year she knocked us all on our arses when she confessed that she was pregnant. Fast forward through all the drama, we welcomed a beautiful baby boy into our lives. This year, through determination, she graduated high school. :D

Here she is with her son, who is turning 1 this September!



My youngest son reached a milestone too. He turned 18 last week. How that happened so fast, is beyond me. He is our gentle giant. He is the tallest of all our families combined! I still wonder if he he done growing.!


So much joy and then, quick as lightning, I get the news that a dear friend of mine past away. He was only 44 and was healthy as can be. A stroke took him away from us and we are all just stunned. As I type this out, I still can't believe he is gone. He was one of those remarkable souls that instantly reaches inside you and makes a mark for life. Rawland had a whole lot going for him; personality, looks, profession and passion, yet he was extremely humble about all his blessing. I met Rawland about 13 years ago. Sharon and I sold him his first house. He bought it so that his mother could live in it and then a couple of years later, he bought another house with his Dad, so that his dad had a place to live too. He wanted to make sure his parents were taken care of. Of course this made us love him even more. Although we weren't in constant contact. We would always hear from him from time to time, and both Sharon and I would call each other up all excited when we did run into him. It was like bragging rights to be able to share a chat with him. Honestly, he is one of those people that you just felt good to know he was out there somewhere. Made you still believe there were good people wandering around and how lucky you would be to run into a person like him. At his funeral, it was like a mini high school reunion. Rawland touched a lot of people from way back, and we all came to pay our respects to his family. It was an honor to be there and this is an understatement when I say, "he will be truly missed".


Saturday, it was time to put on a smile again, because my little brother's best friend got married at a beautiful spot along the Delta. Thank Ga, the weather was nice. Here is a pic of them just after they said their vows. They actually had been married a couple of years, but wanted to have a formal wedding with guests. They did a great job pulling it off!
Wednesday was filled with more love. Wednesday was a historical day for us "Californians" It is the 1st day the state was recognizing "Same Sex" marriages. Again, I was lucky enough to witness my friends, Marcella and Vanessa do what we hetro's have had the privilege of doing for a zillion years. They have been together for 18 years, and Wednesday, they made honest women out of each other.

Here they are making their vows.

Sheesh, get a room! lol, j/k! Here is their first kiss as spouses!

Married at last!

Reality set in.

And that, my friends, is where your favorite Snatchy has been. Life has been having her way with me, and because life is short, I have to listen and take advantage of each moment!


This blog is dedicated to the memory of Rawland, and to all my friends and family who I love dearly.

Yoli

Sex and the Swap

I can only imagine what kind of hits my blog will get with that title! I am still having a hard time living down the word Puta and how many people are directed to my site based on someone googling that word!

So a while back, I hosted a Sex and the City Swap with a few stellar swap homies of mine. The premise was to design or purchase a handbag that your favorite character would wear and fill it with goodies that you would find in her purse. I couldn't wait for this swap to begin! I have been a fan for years and I ran with the masses at opening night to watch my girls in action. However, I do think I may need to see the movie again, because if felt like I shoved an entire season in a couple of hours!

After a little Sexy inspiration,I decided to make, for my partner, a handbag that I think Carrie Bradshaw would wear. I ended up going after an evening look. I noticed her character had some love going on with the feathers and came up with this creation. I know it looks simple, but trust me when I say, working with that glittery fabric was no joke! I almost threw out my machine twice and I could not get the tension right to save my life. After a few frustrating days, I finally finished it! I gave it a pretty interior lining with a black and white floral silky pattern and then I decided to line the outside with some sexy black lace. I will admit, I did purchase the handle, but only because I didn't like the pearl selection I had in my stash.



Filling it was the fun part. I included a mini journal to jot her thoughts down. Some gum for that smoke she would sneak in here and there. A mini album filled with pictures of her, Big, and her girlfriends. Some fun earrings and a huge black blingy diamond ring. Some gloss and some lube. lol, Carrie did like to get her groove on too. She just wasn't so vocal about it. I also included a perfume sample in the event she had a close in counters with Big on a moment's notice!


A few days ago, came my SATC handbag from my wonderful partner, Kathy. OMG, this was her first swap ever and she blew me out the water. Kathy is an amazing crafter and seamstress. She makes awesome dresses, jackets, aprons and the list goes on and on. This bag, including the handle is all handmade. I rawked this bag at a wedding this weekend and received lots of compliments!


But wait, it gets even better! She totally captured Samantha's essence in this bag and it's contents! I mean, really, how much better does it get?

Inside was a manual on some very "interesting" positions. Various lubes and "Dickie" Breath mints. The little captions she wrote on the packaging had me cracking up. Condoms of course were a given, a beautiful blingy bracelet, some Dicky Charms, a Wash the Sins away packet. (perfecto) A birthday card celebrating Samantha's 50th birthday, and a great album with pics of the girls.


Oh and here is the Piece de Resistance............................. Samantha's famed pearl Thong! (Handmade but of course!)


lmao, how awesome is that? Then to add even more to my score. I rec'd another fabulous package from my homegirl, Juli.

She knocked my chonez off too. The Swap was called Literary Surprises. The premise was to select a book and create a package and or craft that incorporated the book. That lil sneak went to my Amazon wish list and created a bonanza of a package around the book.(Scraptastic) by the way, the book rawks, and I highly recommend it. It is filled with easy and creative techniques. You know I am all about the technique. I feel some tutorials coming people!

Feast your eyes! Not only did she include tons of beautiful ephemera, she also painted a mini masterpiece for me utilizing one of the techniques from the book!



Kathy and Juli, Thank you so much for your creativity and generosity! You have truly captured the spirit of a great swapper!

Recycled Postcard and Mexican Tin Tooling Tutorial

Looky here, you get a twofer today! Yep, got mi own tutorial to share and a WONDERFUL tutorial given by Kristen of Pepper Paints!

First up, is making postcards out of all your junk mail and paper scraps. Truly, the possibilites are endless, and it also makes you feel good to know you are creating and recycling at the same time! I made the cards below for a few swaps, and had so much fun, I just wanted to share, because, well, that is how I roll, Chicas!

Materials:
Junk mail, catalogs,newspapers,bills, paper scraps, left over ephemera, etc
glue stick
scissors
card-stock (preferably recycled, from existing post card ads or cereal boxes and or packaging .

Directions: Really, do you need them? lol, cut away and get to gluing all over. Here are a few I made today!

One card is made from San Francisco handouts, maps and coupon book. Another one is made from a Nordstrom's catalog. I haven't shopped there in a while, but they have the best catalogs!

These two were made from paper scraps and I included quotes to give it a more mysterious element!

Ok, this is a given!

Can you feel me? I like these because they are super easy to make, you can complete several at a time, and you can go crazy or keep it simple. Either way, they will still be the bomb, because they are handmade and ready to send out. There is a huge movement on hand written postcards and being that I am old school, I am really digging these trades!

Ok, and for the grand finale! I ran across this blog and I was floored at the simplicity and the bang this craft put out!

Mexican Tooling Project

(copied and pasted with Kristen's permission, of course)

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This weeks Unplugged Project is Metal. The long weekend threw me off a bit so I am posting a day late-but better late then never! This Mexican Metal Tooling project is super easy, no mess.

You will need some heavy aluminum-we cut cake pans apart-scissors, stack of newspapers, paint brushes, permanent markers. Optional materials list to follow.

Place your aluminum square on your newspaper stack and use the back of a paintbrush to draw a picture/design. You can flip your square over and draw on the other side too so that some of your drawing sticks out and some is concave.

Now use your permanent markers to color in your picture.

The next part took longer than anything. I punched holes in the corners and used jewelry wire to string the tiles together and tied them to a dowel rod. We hung some beads off the bottom for weight. This is optional but I think it really looks great. Because we used permanent markers I plan to hang this on our back patio but tonight could not find a single place to hang it to get a good photo. This was the best I could do.

Note–after cutting the pans up the edges are a bit sharp, you may want to use masking tape and tape the square down to the newspaper while working on it. Be careful!

Here is a photo I took this morning outside-looks a bit better!

How fabulous is that? I am already doing a progect (Big Ass Matchbox Shrine Swap) using her technique! Awesome. Please be sure to visit her inspiring page and tell her Snatchy sent you!

Country vs. City with a side of a Crafty Tutorial

I don't know why, but I have always had mad love for big cities. I grew up in a "bedroom" community right outside of San Jose, California. Being that most of my family actually lived in various parts of San Jose, I too, would claim San Jose, just because, to me, it sounded way more exciting than boring Campbell.

As a kid, I would love to visit San Francisco and Los Angeles. I always felt like people from SF and LA were smarter, savvier and just so different than plain ol me. I was 8 ok? lol. Seriously, I would dream of visiting exotic cities like Paris, London, Rome and New York. I knew from a young age, that I was destined to travel, and I would do anything necessary to see the world out there!

How I ended up in Sacramento is beyond me. lol. Actually, I followed my mother here and the older I got, the more I appreciated it's laid back attitude. Good place to raise my kids too, since Sacramento, at the time, was a little behind the times in peer pressure as it was in the bay area.

Although I love traveling to breezy beaches and tropical resorts, nothing relaxes me better than to vacation in a bustling city. Last time I was in NYC, I gasped at the prices of apartments. I looked at some real estate just for giggles, and couldn't believe what a closet cost! No yard, no space, just a box inside a building.

Then I came home to my corner of the earth, and I realized how lucky I am to have some space to roam. My husband's passion is our backyard. If he could have his way, we would live out in some big ol ranch with acres of land. My city is surrounded by small country towns where acreage is in abundance. But.........Nope, not me, I have to live close to the action and we settled on a home that has a big lot.

So after reading Madge's (aka The impatient blogger, aka Impatient Beader, aka Super Woman) blogs about her chickens, pig's and Amish country, she inspired me to take some pics of the hubby doing what he does best (outside the house) and share a bit of our piece of the country that sits behind a house in a city.

Welcome to Manzo's Organic Orchard.


Homegrown Cherries. We have three trees and this was the first year that brought us huge amounts of cherries!

Vine Ripe and ooooh so sweet!

Earth's bounty

We have two white Peach trees. We are expecting a huge peach bounty. Some of the limbs are already sagging to the ground from the weight of these lil peachy gems.

We also have a Galla apple tree. The apples, right now, are the size of ping pong balls.

A couple of years ago, my mother and I stayed at this wonderful bed and breakfast farm house outside of Cortona, Italy. They had a lemon tree in this huge old pot sitting smack in the middle of their yard. When I got home, I announced to Mando that I wanted a miniature lemon tree in a pot right smack in the middle of the yard. This will be the year that it will produce more than two lemons!

Proud Papa farmer in front of his fruit trees that he planted himself.

Man made Pond

What can I say, I had to bring a little swank into our orchard!

Ok, back to "Ms. Madge"
She is starting a series of Crafty videos. Not only does she go out of her way to make them entertaining, but she also actually teaches us something! What a concept! This latest video shows us the wonder of working with extra thick embossing enamel (UTEE) Check her out, and tell her your girl, Snatchy sent you!

Black Goddesses and T-Shirt Vamps

Black goddess doll Swap
Originally uploaded by Sacred Snatch Designs

This is one of my latest Doll Creations. She is on her way to my swap partner. The theme was Black Goddess and this is how she turned out. These dolls are so much fun and I am already signed up for another "Goddess" swap.

The rest of this blog was written by my girl, Melody of Handmade Dork. She came out and played with us at Scary Craft Night, and I didn't realize how sneaky she was being with her camera. :O.
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Ok...so I went to the last Scary Craft's Night of the Crafters (which is a monthly get-together, every fourth Tuesday of the month at Side Show Studios, with artists and crafters in the Sac area) where we learned (some of us more quickly than others) how to reconstruct old tees. It was great to see some peeps I haven't seen in months and to learn new things about my comfort levels with scissors and the use of the word, "wonky." Trust me, everything about my project is "wonky."

At the helm, was Sam Marie who is as sweet as can be (um, and mass patient with my annoying ass). She's been destroying and restroying tees since she was in junior high, so no better instructor could have been found on the subject. However, Sacred Snatch (Yoli) brought a book that gave people further inspiration.

Coping a feel? What happens in Side Show Studios stays in Side Show Studios.

Rain and her mom cut it UP!

Ms. Cy of Side Show took about five seconds to whip this up and was the envy of the room:

A great time was had by all and a barrel full of delicious caramel corn was consumed (the stuff was GOOD).

Here I am being coached by the lovely Sam Marie.

Being the slow learner I am, I had to take my project home. I'm also a slow producer, so, without further ado, here is my WIP:

(Isn't she hot?) Melody of Handmade Dork

Only one more strap to go! I'll post a blog on that in '09 when it's done.

Thanks for the fun, girls!

Another community crafting opportunity is offered by the Sacramento Craft Mafia. Every second Tuesday we hold a Coffee N Craft Along at Java Lounge. The more chances to craft with the peeps, the better! So, come and join!