Debra Mason Designs

A succulent kind of day...

The biggest blank canvas I have had to address to date is our 1/4 acre yard. That's big for Southern California, folks. AND...since water is the new gold, we don't want to have to pay a gigantic water bill nor use water needlessly. Along comes the cactus, the rocks, the flagstone and the succulents. Click on ye old photo below to get a better look.

The folks at Heritage Succulents had a display in Historic Downtown Oxnard this last weekend. FAB-U-LOS-ITY. All the photos above are their handiwork. By the way, fabulosity is a word I learned on HGTV this last week. I groaned when I heard it but I have to say, it makes me laugh.

I also have to thank Cathy Miller over at Rags to Riches Cat Rescue in North Carolina for giving me some great advice on doo-dads to spiff up my photos for my blog. And for ways to protect my images. Thank you, Cathy! Also, check out Cathy's animal photographs here. She needs to do this professionally!!!

Stay tuned everyone because I'll be posting Walle's 2nd toy review and you won't want to miss it. It will be the official launch of INSIDE WALLE'S TOYBOX. Fabulosity in abundance! You can check out his first review here.

The Perfect Sunday

I don't get many of these...days off, that is. Freelance employment, coupled with first year in first home makes for not much time off. My husband and I have had to make a very concerted effort to take time off. So...this morning we went for a very lengthy early morning hike. Fortunately for us, we live less than five minutes away from some breath-taking hikes. Wildwood Park in Ventura County was our destination on Sunday. (click on any of the pictures below and they will enlarge for you).

Lots of TV westerns of yesteryear were shot here. It's definitely horse country and when you hike in you are hard pressed to believe that one of the largest cities in the world is a 45 minute drive south (Los Angeles). 

Cacti and succulents are everywhere...along with rattlesnacks...so don't leave the trail!

Just on the other side of the far ridge (above) is the Pacific Ocean. The mountains arrive at the beach in quite dramatic fashion...but that's another hike from another state park about 10 minutes away from this one!

We had heard a great deal about Paradise Falls in Wildwood Park and so we hiked in. Wow!

This place was amazing. It was truly like paradise. And nobody else was there at this time (except for one very quiet woman and her dog going for a swim near the falls). 

I love pictures of stairs and paths. Don't know why...weird, I guess. 

We arrived home minutes after we finished the hike having experienced a better workout than if we'd gone to the gym. And we were surrounded by such beauty. Of course, the cats were all asleep when we walked in. Walle has adopted a small quilt I bought at a garage sale.

I took this picture with my digital camera and then ran it through a great little ap called Poladroid. It gives your photos the look of an old time polaroid camera. You can download the ap here.

And now, it's Monday. (sigh) Back to work... 

Shame on me!

That's right. I've designed textiles for the quilt market and have only done minimal quilting. I am taking a few classes and teaching myself HOW TO QUILT! Being self-employed means I have precious little time to clean house, let alone quilt. I will bravely post some of my things soon...they definitely lean towards the art quilt variety. The whole photo transfer process intrigues me.

Here is a very Old Testament looking tree in a park near my home.

This root system is fascinating! I see faces in it. This is headed directly to my texture file for use in Illustrator!

There is a creek running through this park and the water is so clear. This already looks like an abstract painting - a great starting place for an art quilt photo transfer. I'm not crazy about the plastic trash in the lower left hand corner. Don't get me started on this topic....I may photoshop that baby right out of the picture.

HOWEVER...I have to finish adding all the doo-dads to this blog before I dive into new projects. And then there is always the house to clean. Oh my.

Be happy,

Debra