Shameless Family Plug

Can I brag about my family for a bit? My darling hubby Rick is fishing a Halibut Tournament today and I sure hope he wins because he promised me we'd take that money and go to our favorite little island in the Bahamas, Great Guana Cay! I really want to be on this beach and swimming in this water! Good luck Honey!

Yesterday I received an email from my beautiful sister in law Mandy who lives in Australia with my brother Rex and their 3 adorable kids. She's one of the 4 founding members of the Take Three Iniative. They won a $50,000 grant from the Taronga Zoo! They were picked out of hundreds of applicants. I guess this thing is really taking off too. It's a GREAT program. You can check it out at take 3 initiative Good on ya Mands!

By the way, that's my youngest brother Rex with Mandy who shapes surfboards for his company RMS in Australia. He's a very talented shaper and a great guy, pretty cute too! He's actually the 'real' businessman in the family!


In addition to growing the most incredible vegetables, my brother Peter has been super busy making boutique guitar amplifiers. I have no idea how he knows how to build them but he is, after all, the family brainiac! Sorry don't have any photos of him working in his laboratory. (You gotta say that with a Bela Lugosi accent!)

Then there's my brother Tony who has to be one of the most creative people I know. In addition to doing really fun and funky paintings (in like 15 minutes!) he makes the most incredible coffee tables that look like vintage surfboards!

He also restores old cars...he's working on a 91 BMW convertible-so cute-and a 64 Olds 98 right now. And check out the greenhouse he did out of old windows! I want to live there!

BTW that's his little Jack Russel Molly making sure that the bunnies don't eat the lettuce. Well more likely she's on her way over for a belly rub!

Just wanted to write about how lucky I am to have a wonderfully creative and most of all kind family.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

XXOO Valentina

Spring is here!

I'm sure there there are lots of you who feel exactly the same but when Spring finally gets here I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation! Not that our winters are so awful here in Southern California (they're actually really pretty nice) but when the flowers start blooming and the days are longer it's time to enjoy the sun and get some of those outdoor projects done!

That's what we did this weekend with the help of hubby Rick's really good friend Jeff. We'd still be working on the project if it wasn't for him!

The patio furniture that Rick painstakenly sanded and varnished a little over a year ago was looking pretty sad from being outside in the rain so 'we' decided to paint it! I'm pretty handy but when the guys start a project like this it seems we girls can't do anything right so I just let them go with it! BTW I got the fun job of spraypainting a cute bakers rack...PINK!

On my way to get more paint from Home Depot, our neighbor was having a garage sale and she had a cedar chest that was free so I scooped it up and surprised the guys with another thing to paint! And yes I am still here to tell you about it! I've been wanting to get a chest to use outside to store all those ugly things like the BBQ chimney etc so this was perfect! Isn't free just THE BEST?

To be honest I'm not that happy with the color of the furniture but there was NO way I was going to tell the guys. I like them both and do want to stay married so no worries I'll just get some cute cushions! Woohoo, a reason to go shopping!

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful time of year!

XXOO Valentina

Tacky, colorful, crazy...I just LOVE this stuff!

2 or 3 nights ago I woke around 4 am and could not get back to sleep. For some strange reason I started thinking about a card that I bought at least 4 years ago with an image of Our Lady of Guadelupe. Hmm...I hadn't even looked at the card in a couple of years but there it was in the back of my head that cold and dark morning! Anyhow I got to thinking how fab it would look on some hot pink velveteen so I just had to get up and see for sure. Yep it did look good and I had all the trim I needed to make a really fun shoulder bag!

Growing up in San Diego my parents always took us in to Tijuana and Mexico. The colors were incredible, especially to a young kid, and the taxicabs & busses were outrageous! They were painted in brilliant colors and had dingle ball fringe hanging form the windshields. There were always a few chickens inside too! So that's why I call my latest handbag the TiaJuana Taxicab!

PS There are no chickens in it!

XXOO Valentina

Sunday was SOOOO much fun & it didn't rain!!!

Mermaids Mercantile was a great success! The weather cooperated, the vendors were awesome, we had tons of shoppers and the place looked fabulous! Debi has really outdone herself, Out of the Blue has never looked more delicious! Met some wonderfully creative 'Moulin Rouge' ladies that came in by bus with Kim Caldwell. It was so much fun watching them shop...they are definitely PROFESSIONALS! Too bad I didn't get any photos!

I can't wait to start working on my next pieces...please stay tuned! XXOO Valentina

Mermaids Mercantile is today...please don't rain!!!

Is it just me or does everyone get nervous before a show? You'd think I wouldn't at my age! Debi Beard's darling Mermaids Mercantile is today and I've been working furiously the past few weeks getting ready for it. I drove down to Solana Beach yesterday and the shop, Out of the Blue, is looking absolutelyadorable! How does she do it?

I'll be bringing my newest 'upcycled' clothing, shoulder bags and some fun Tees in addition to the collectibles I've found digging around estate & garage sales. So I'm praying the rain holds off until this evening...wish me luck on that one!

XXOO Valentina

A fun weekend!

OK still trying to figure out how to get those darned header etc lines out of my blog! But in the meantime here's my second post!

Did the fabulous Mermaid's Mercantile this weekend! (Was a little shocked to find out it was this weekend not next-my fault-but it all seemed to work out...somehow!) What a great bunch of creative, fun and really nice girls! Debi and Rachel put on such a nice show and they are SO easy to work with. Frauke (Madame Sauerkraut) and her 2 darling daughters brought us a huge salad with their homegrown tomatoes for lunch, it was yummy and greatly appreciated! Is there anything those girls can't do??? Too bad Nikki's margaritas were only make believe!

I am having SO much fun doing some altered couture, upcycled, repurposed clothing! Back to my roots so to speak. Kind of went crazy with an 'Oilily on Acid' skirt and a "Home" by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes inspired apron! (Once you hear that song you will never be the same! Or get it out of your head!) Didn't sell any of my clothing this weekend so look for them in my etsy shop this week! I'm also working on some punk and steampunk inspired clothing too!

That's it for now...

XXOO Valentina

My first post...Yippeee!

Testing one, two, three! I'm not sure if this will work because I'm pretty clueless about these things but I figured if my friend Jennifer can do it I can too! (Sorry Jen!) My sweet hubby helped me get the blog designed and he was the one who sugested that I use my own artwork. Not sure it's really that great but it's mine! Thanks honey!

I'm pretty excited to be doing The Mermaid Mercantile sale this weekend! There are SO many creative people involved and I feel very fortunate to be included. Of course I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get things done! But the good news is that I have been very lucky finding good stuff this past month! I'm also working on some upcycled clothing and the cutest little trinket boxes EVER! I'll post photos of the boxes soon!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my etsy shop valentinasvintage!