Coming Up Roses in El Cerrito

Roses are busting out all over in El Cerrito gardens! Our Blue Girl, Graham Thomas, Butterscotch, Sally Holmes, Ispahan, Electron, Heirloom, Double Delight … and many more … are blooming like gangbusters, so I’m extra excited this year about the 37th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! Sunday May 21st, 11 am to 3:30 pm at El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with a few roses blooming in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors. You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions.  While supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past twelve years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help their seasonal allergies.And! Honey Kissed lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!

Celebrate Roses in El Cerrito

The don’t-miss event for flower-lovers, gardeners and rosarians is coming up next Sunday – that’s right, it’s the 36th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! This year it’s on Sunday May 15th, from 11 am to 3:30 pm at the El Cerrito Community Center, a few blocks east of San Pablo Ave at 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with just one rose bush in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors.  You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions. Remember to bring your clippers and loppers for on-site tool sharpening. This year there will activities for children, and while supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past eleven years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help with allergies.And for the first time at the Rose Show, try our Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!

George’s Red-Hot Sinn-amon Soap

Yesterday was our sneak peek Open House at the gallery I’m involved with, The Village Shops and Galleries in El Cerrito. It was a wonderful day – but more about that in another blog post, because I have to tell you about the grand entrance George made midway through the day. If you know George at all, you know he has a wide range of interests and skills.

For the past several years, George has been making the most delicious chocolate truffles for me for Valentine’s Day.

So you won’t be surprised to hear that when George strolled into the gallery holding this platter….

… I thought they were dark chocolate hearts. Indeed, all of George’s wonderful soaps look good enough to eat. But wow, these gleaming dark mahogany hearts … everyone there was ready to bite in!

Even after he said they were soap some of us still wanted to take a nibble, they looked so scrumptious! And indeed, they are — delicious and luxurious on your body (and of course on a loved one’s body!) in the shower or a very sexy bath. He used the spiciest, best quality Watkins cinnamon for a deep, complex scent. Cinnamon soothes the skin and intoxicates the senses — what better combination for George’s very sexy soap?

Fourth of July Festival Fun!

Get out your funky bunting and put on your dancing shoes! It’s celebration time again in El Cerrito, only a few days until the amazing free Fourth of July festival put on by worldOne — with incredible free music, great artisan booths, food, games, tons of fun for everyone!  Booths and rides are open from 10 to 6 pm, and the great music continues until 7 pm. The worldOne website has a full schedule of the music events.   And this is the City’s web page.

Corey Mason, director/founder, and Debra Sue Kelvin, co-producer, are the heart and backbone of this great event.  This is Corey at the Festival last year… Learn more about worldOne radio, and about the festival at worldOne’s website. Here’s a fun promo clip for the Festival. This year Corey and I worked to add two more 12-foot banners made from my mandala designs, to the six we had last year.

You can see more of my photos from the 2009 Festival at my smugmug site. The Festival starts the evening of July 3rd, with a DJ set of music from 5 to 7 pm.  The main event is Sunday, July 4th, from 10 am to 6 pm.  The Festival is at Cerrito Vista Park.  There’s lots of free street parking and it’s about a mile from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.  The address is 950 Pomona Ave, El Cerrito.

Stop by the Garden Delights Arts & Crafts booth to say hello…  see you there!

Butterflies emerging!

What a celebration we had for the first beautiful warm day after a horrendous stretch of pounding rainstorms, hail and cold — two of our swallowtail butterflies emerged!

Anise swallowtail butterfly

Number one came out in the morning.  He’s an anise swallowtail butterfly that we raised from an egg we found on fennel in our garden.  We let this guy sit inside for a bit, then after his wings had firmed up, we opened the cage and away he flew.  Anise swallowtails are interesting, because they don’t emerge according to a set timetable (as monarch butterflies do).  The swallowtails stagger their emergence, possibly to insure that some of them at least emerge at a time when there will be plenty of food for them.  We have some swallowtail chrysalises in our butterfly nursery that date back more than 2 years.

Swallowtail chrysalis

You can tell they’re still viable because there’s movement inside if you touch them.  After checking some of them, George noticed that another chrysalis had darkened, which they do when they’re getting ready to emerge.  And shortly after that, number two came out!

I only got a few shots of these guys, but if you want to see my photos of the life cycle of the anise swallowtails, go to this gallery in my smugmug website.  I have closeup shots of the entire process — from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly.  Oh, and we haven’t seen any monarch butterflies in our yard yet, and we don’t have any of them in our butterfly nursery, but you can see my photos of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly at this gallery.  Happy Spring!

Heritage Rose Show – May 16, 2010

Despite the cold weather, I’m getting signs that spring can’t be far off.  The farmer who sells incredible tomato plants at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market had a bumper crop of starter plants yesterday, so after consulting with family gardener George I toted six plants home on BART.   And just as exciting, I got news yesterday about one of my favorite events in our town (El Cerrito California, a bit north of Berkeley) — the Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group, and held the Sunday after Mother’s Day.  This year the Show will be on May 16th from 11 am to 4:30 pm.  It’s at the El Cerrito Community Center, a few blocks east of the main drag in El Cerrito, San Pablo Avenue.  The Center is at 7007 Moeser Lane, cross street is Ashbury.  The event and parking are free.

Double delight rose

The heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to garden-fanatics to hobbyists to people who just have one rose bush in their yard bring cut roses to show. They are grouped and arranged, and the result is an intoxicating display of scents and colors.

Blue girl rose mandala

In addition to the roses, an array of arts and crafts and rose-related products will tempt you — just view, or  purchase if you can’t resist!  My favorites include a vendor who sells rose and nature themed books, and two vendors who offer rose flavored jellies and jams and  locally-produced honey.

Rose and bouquet collage silk scarf

We have had a booth with our artwork and crafts at the Celebration for the past five years.  This year we’re going to be in the main hall again, competing with the rose display for attention.  I’ll bring the work that I make from my original photographs, mostly rose and flower-related, including jewelry, scarves, tiles, boxes, vases, sachets, and much more!  Go to smell the roses, then stop by to say hello…

If you have any questions about the Show, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com

Despite the cold weather, I have been getting signs that spring can’t be far off.  The farmer who sells incredible tomato plants at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market had a bumper crop of starter plants yesterday, so after consulting with George, the family gardener, I toted six plants home on BART.   And just as exciting, I also got news yesterday about one of my favorite events in our town (El Cerrito California, just north of Berkeley) — the Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group, and held the Sunday after Mother’s Day.  This year, 2010, the event will be on May 16th from 11 am to 4:30 pm.  It’s at the El Cerrito Community Center, a few blocks east of the main drag, San Pablo Avenue.  The Center is at 7007 Moeser Lane, cross street is Ashbury.  The event and parking are free.

Inkjet Printing on Fabric Workshop

Inkjet Printing on Fabric

Workshop taught by Heidi Rand

Canyon Trail Art Center, El Cerrito California

Saturday May 22, 2010 – noon to 3:30 p.m.
$35 + materials

Lavender rust quilt

Welcome to the exciting world of fabric printing!  Learn to print your artwork, images and designs on fabric using your home inkjet printer.  This exciting technique opens the door to endless possibilities for creating original fabric to use in quilts, art pieces, gifts, home decor, and much more.

Fabric vases

I take you step-by-step through the entire process, from preparing your files to print, to choosing the right fabric and getting it ready to go through the printer, to post-printing treatment, and much more.  I will discuss the importance of knowing what kinds of inks your printer uses, and give you tips to get fabric through even the most finicky printer.

Fabric cuff bracelet

With many examples of printed fabric and fabric artwork and crafts, you’ll get new ideas about what to do with your images and designs, and the knowledge to go home and start printing your own!

Pre-registration required.  Please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com

Upcoming workshops:

Saturday June 19, 2010, noon to 4. Art quilts and fabric hangings. El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Saturday July 17, 2010 noon to 4:00 p.m.  Inkjet transfer techniques. El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Sunday August 29, 2010, noon to 3:30 p.m. Photo Art : Altered Imagery. El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Sunday September 19, 2010, noon to 4 p.m. Beyond paper : inkjet printing on alternative surfaces.  El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Sunday October 24, 2010, noon to 3:30 p.m.  Exploring lutradur.  El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Sunday November 21, 2010, noon – 3:30 p.m.  Handmade gifts with your inkjet printer. El Cerrito Canyon Trail Art Center

Have questions? Interested in registering?  Please email me

If you can’t make the workshop, I also have an ebook to teach you to print on fabric and online classes at CraftEdu

Inkjet Heat Transfer Techniques : One-day workshop

Learn to make creative and unique artwork, crafts and gifts using heat transfers and your inkjet printer. We will explore several products and techniques to transfer images and text to a wide variety of surfaces. You will complete at least two transfers at the workshop.

Masdevallia orchid box

Sunday February 21, 2010, noon to 4.  Canyon Trail Park & Art Center, 6757 Gatto Ave., El Cerrito. $40 plus materials

Swallowtail butterfly tile

You can use heat transfers on fabric, wood, tile, metal, and many other surfaces.  It’s a versatile way to place your photographs and images onto things that you can’t fit through your printer!  For best results, I usually recommend using the  iron-on transfers that your printer manufacturer offers.  There is an exciting new product though, Transfer Artist Paper (TAP), that works very well for transfers.  You’ll have a chance to try TAP at the workshop. I made the frame for this lutradur piece with TAP transferred onto a canvas board.

Butterfly window collage lutradur and TAP

Another heat transfer product I like is by Lazertran, the company that makes the waterslide decals that I use in many of my art pieces.  The top of this box is a lazertran heat transfer.

Lisianthus box heat transfer

Here are some of my blog posts about using heat transfers:

Photos on wooden boxes, part 1

Photos on metal, part 1

Photos on tiles, part 1

For more information, or to pre-register, email me at heidirand@gmail.com.   For the complete list of my workshops and other events, go to the Calendar on my website.