One thing that became apparent to me right away is that the Casinos spend a lot of money on the esthetics of the interiors. Some of it may be ‘over the top’, but I’m perfectly ok with that since most of it is such high quality – which means superior artisans have good paying jobs. 
In the main areas of the Wynn, these are the mosaics I saw. All kinds of flowers, I was blown away. 
This is on the wall of their Starbucks. Gets a lot less wear and tear.
Then they built the Encore next door and really went to town with the mosaics. I’m only sharing a few of the butterflies, believe me, I took pictures of each and every one.
It’s not just the glass mosaic, it is cutting the marble to fit the mosaics that is very impressive. The Wynn has been around for 13 years, which means a lot of wear and tear on these floors.
Which means Alfredo is working every single day repairing the mosaics. I talked to him for a while and complimented him on his wonderful workmanship. Most people never even saw him. But that’s me, I notice the details and I really notice the people doing this kind of work.
At the Encore they have just as many floor mosaics, but they also have quite a few wall mosaics. The maintenance is so much easier. This grouted, as are the floor pieces.
These are on the wall, they aren’t grouted. It is a different kind of tesserae that is better without grout. They just glow and yes, I touched, I had to. 
Not only is this not grouted, they were able to use some gold tesserae as well.
Glass is an amazing material. This is so well crafted, it will do fine even in the hot Las Vegas sun. The three dimensional sculpture takes the butterflies to a whole new level.
One aspect of this is how the light and shadow play off the sculpure. I’m not sure many people actually see this, it is in area that few people get to. Oh well, I explored, I found it.
Finally, other casinos are putting mosaic to good use as well. This is the floor at the Grand Canal shops. Traditional designs and colors, which is fitting for the setting.
There are other decorative elements that I will share later.
Aside from an amazing engineering feat, this is also a wonderful example of Art Deco, seeing that it was constructed between 1931 – 1936. The wonderful copper structure in the foreground is the visitors center much newer than the Dam, I do love how it mimics the same design elements.
Some purists would call this Faux Deco, because it is much newer and wasn’t built during the Art Deco period. I say phooey to them, I hate those ‘purists’ design is design and good design should be kept alive and reused.
Boy is the surrounding desert stark, and very hot.
Which makes Lake Mead all the more impressive in its deep blue color.
There are two clocks on either side of the dam since the dam straddles Nevada and Arizona. Sorry, I didn’t walk over to take a picture of the Arizona clock – it was just too hot! Nevada is on the Pacific clock, while Arizona is on mountain time. But Arizona doesn’t switch over to day light savings, so during the summer, the clocks share the same time.
I know these two angels signify something, to me they are just beautiful Art Deco Sculptures. Can you see how the toes are shiny? Yup, people passing by rub those toes and the green patina has rubbed off.
Old terrazzo design by the angels.
And a more modern design inside the turbine room.
There are 17 of these turbines, half on the Nevada side and the half on the Arizona side. The massive amounts of electricity are sold, 56% to CA, 33% to Arizona and 19% to Nevada.
It’s time for some of those exterior shots. Yes, you can find better ones, but I’m using what I could get on my camera. All of this concrete is still curing, the devised a cooling method with water, so they could continue to build up the dam, and yet, concrete takes a very long time to cure, especially when using over 3 million tons of concrete.
The water coming out from the turbines.
This image is amazing for a number of reasons, most notably the bridge. This was completed in 2010 as a by-pass, all the traffic on the dam was doing harm and was dangerous from a security point of view. The road on both sides is very treacherous, so a by pass on the freeway was called for.
And now I will quote Wikipedia: “The bridge was the first concrete-steel composite arch bridge built in the United States,
They pulled this quilt out of storage, how wonderful is this! Most of the exhibit was meh- old toys behind glass, but they did have plenty of play areas.
This was a stage area with some props. Since he has been talking about going to see the rocket ship every day, I felt vindicated.
I haven’t baked in years. I know, baking is a science, instead of finding a simple recipe, I poured some basic ingredients in a bowl, then into the freezer. Not having any cookie cutters, I improvised. Not that cutter would have helped, the dough was tragic. But here we have a star.
I had sent Joel to the store to get some frosting in tubes. Aytan got straight to work with his favorite color – yellow. That is what he used on the computer game as well.
Ta-dah! He is done, all he wanted on this was yellow.
Kudos to Aytan! He ate most of that cookie. I tried a piece – ugh, it was pretty awful.
Instead of throwing out the rest of the dough, which I should have, I baked some blobs.
Aytan was happy to use up the rest of the colors on these.
I sent this hot mess home with him, with instructions the parents that they are under no obligation to even try them. The garbage is a good place for these. The experience, was what it was all about, playing a computer game is all well and good, but coming home and actually making something, that is where the fun really happened.
My choice for binding was to simply repeat the red that borders all the blocks. I did hand sew the binding down.
So here I am trying to show you the quilting, and you can’t see anything.
Better, you can see how I did FMQ in the middle of the blocks and used my walking foot on the background. It was a pain using the walking foot, because as you can see, I had small areas where I had to rotate the quilt. UGH, what a pain. Probably would have been easier just to do those wavy line free hand.
It’s on the back that you can see the quilting designs.
My butterflies all in a row.
The feathers, I outlined them and then did shadow quilting inside.
As you step away, you can’t really see the quilting in detail. Clearly the quilting gives a three dimensional affect which is why I quilt so heavily. 
Each bird got slightly different treatment. I did pay attention to the beaks, I wanted them to stand out.
The details of the feather and the birds.
Done and flapping in the wind.
I pieced the back, I’m frugal that way.
This is the after the wash photo. The white is bright, the reds are reds, so what am I talking about?
Now can you see the difference? I am so grateful that it didn’t damage the real whites. The quilt is as lovely as ever. I won’t be keeping this for myself. As much as I enjoyed this, I’m not in love. So some very very lucky friend will receive this for Christmas. Which is why the label will wait until I decide who that lucky person is. Also, I will put in instructions that yes, the quilt can be machine washed and dried, but please use a color catcher sheet when doing so. I have no idea which red crocked, but it may not be done doing so.
I was too lazy to finish the row before taking the picture. And then we went on vacation.
Through the window of the cog railroad, I saw this crochet lace curtain. Very nicely done.
Look at these adorable sweaters and hats! I’m sure they get a lot of use in the winter.
These slippers are also very cute. Neither are hand knit, but they are made out of yarn, so I had to get some pictures.
Every designer finds a way to make the shawl shape a little differently. Which makes knitting more fun.
I had packed my stitch markers and then promptly forgot when I got home where they were. So I scrounged around for some of my older markers. Even with stitch markers, styles change, although the plastic diaper pin made by Clover is always a good choice.
Here’s the jumble of old markers.
Here are the new ones. These bulb, or gourd pins are the new thing. I saw a box of 1000 downtown for $10, so people in the sewing industry are using them as well. I don’t need 1000, pins, so I ordered these from Amazon, they came in all kinds of colors, which is fun.
Nice lace pattern, not hard yet very pleasing.
Question is, am I playing yarn chicken? I bought enough yarn and even started the lace long before the required number of stitches. We shall see, I may have to get very creative with the edging here. Ah! The joys of knitting!
On Sunday we were invited to a birthday brunch at the Terranea resort. This is the old location of Marineland – a precurser to the many Sea Worlds out there. Although Marineland closed down in 1987, this resort wasn’t completed until 2009. 
Which leads me to think that these tiles were made deliberately to look old and worn. Knowing what I know about tiles, that wasn’t a good choice, it simply makes them look cheap. Since this style of tile would have been with the different colors of clay running through, at least a couple of millimeters. Oh well, how many people really look down at the floor they are walking on?
Or look into a golf cart to see a Harris Hawk, hood on and all waiting to do his job.
If it weren’t for his handler, I wouldn’t have known the breed. But he is there for bird abatement. He will fly over many parts of the resort, keeping the and sea gulls away – just with his presence. I did see the handler pull out a dead bird from the cooler and tear off a chunk. Even hawks don’t work for free. He needs to eat and be rewarded. No pictures of that, some people get very squeamish about real nature at work.
Brunch was lovely, afterward, we changed into walking clothes and shoes and just started walking around. Palos Verdes is on cliffs high above the ocean, there are very few places that actually have a beach. Because of the different directions of wind and such in the bay, Santa Monica and Venice have very wide expanses of sand, Palos Verdes, at the southern tip, has none.
One thing PV has that most of LA doesn’t have, is this marine layer. On a hot July day, the clouds are hanging low in the sky. The piling is one of the few left from the Marineland days.
We walked on, away from the resort and along the bluffs, enjoying the views.
Even looking back down on Terranea.
My love of Light houses was rewarded. Even if I don’t go in, seeing a light house up on a cliff makes me happy. This is Point Vicente Light house, that operated from 1926 until 1939. Today all the duties of a light house are done electronically, so they are historic relics of what boats had to contend with in the past. I still love them and hope that they are kept in good condition for visitors to see.
This one still has the Fresnel lens, which was very powerful at the time it was installed, it could be seen 20 miles out to seeunless the fog got too thick and then the fog horn would blow.
Today the danger is from the land much more than the sea. I love how the sign says: Don’t even think about it! Sadly, every few years, either accidents or stupidity happens and someone gets killed falling down these cliffs to the rocky beach below. Not far from this sign there was one of those shrines, candles and plastic flowers. No name but the relatives of the deceased must still come by.
One last look at the light house and back to our car we went.
I have my collections of little girl patterns, although, I need to update, they only go to six years and Shira is there. 
These dresses don’t look quite right on a hanger. Oh, the necklace says Shira. We were at an event where they were making names in gold-fill wire. Let’s see how long this lasts, since I bought a pretty cheap chain.
Silly face! Notice she already has the matching headband.
That’s better since the hemline is on the bias, it stretches. Luckily with a girl like this, who never stands still, no will see that it is uneven.
See what I mean? Always in motion.
Until I ask her to model – oy, she is way too photogenic for her own good.
And another shirt for me, really trying to crop out all the mess in my work room. Luckily I have some of this fabric leftover, it will probably go into a quilt.
The math worked out ok, I thought it would be slightly bigger because of the red borders, but I guess I cut enough out of the sashing that the quilt is almost exactly the size that was stated in the pattern. 
Not a great picture, the shadows certainly distract. I just feel that I’ll get better pictures once it’s quilted.
The pool noodle method of basting the quilt is working very well for me. I did this in about an hour, without breaking my back.
Quilting with red thread on a red design makes it hard to see the quilting, that might be a good thing. 
I truly live by Angela Walters creed, Close enough is good enough. I like the idea of echoing around the shapes, no perfection needed here. I must say, since having the machine serviced, the free motion quilting is coming along great, it’s just with the rulers that the thread keeps breaking. Also, intricate quilting gets lost on print fabric, I just can’t help myself.
I echoed the arrows a few times and then quilted pebbles. This is such a pain to do over a large area since I didn’t have a lot of space to fill, it was worth the effort. 
Before quilting…
…and after. So much dimension here, which is why I love dense quilting, it really does make a difference.
It’s hard to see, I am quilting the white background with meandering lines, done with a walking foot. Which means I need to turn the whole thing around since I’d break the machine if I tried to reverse stitch with a walking foot. Ah, the joys of quilting on a domestic machine. Of course, long arm machines have their own limitations.
I especially love the fact that they continue to develop and grow. They recently took on a major project, a massive Stain Glass wall in a Church in Leawood Kansas. Here is a s
Leaded glass as door decoration.
The Leawood church forced them into a whole new way of creating stained glass. Working with an expert they moved into the realm of fusing glass, not just painting. This allows for a whole new world of color and vibrancy.
This piece does not need the separation of the lead, but combining the old techniques with the new is part of what Judson is doing today.
This is 100% traditional stained glass technique. Each piece of glass will be separated by lead, first,they draw in the shading with gray or black, they paint in the colors. In some cases, the glass is colored glass upon which they paint in the shading.
Not only are the techniques very old, the subject matter is very traditional. When completed this will be transported to Wyoming and from that point on, only monks in the monestary will be able to enjoy this beauty.
They had a full scale cartoon on the wall, this is a large commision. One piece is already complete and was hanging in their window.
I found out about one happening in South Pasadena, so on a lovely balmy Saturday evening off we went. People used to talk about LA as being a bunch of suburbs in search of a city. Those people were too snobish to actually go and find out that many of these small communities have a lot of civic pride. As you can see in the window, an early ostrich farm was part of the growth of this little town.
A three seater on a merry-go-round? Maybe for three small children.
I love how these small towns have the clock in the center. There was a time when owning a wrist watch was something only wealthy people could afford. So having public time pieces was very important.
Especially next to the train station. In France our group kept pronouncing the word as Garrrrrrr. It’s fun to see a little street named: The street of the Station. What once was part of the vast Trolly car system, is now part of the Metro Gold line. It goes from Boyle Heights all the way to Azusa and is well used.
The local nursery/design studio was offering free wine and music. As well as showing off their wares, such as these wonderful Talavera style ceramics.
I would love to be able to use some of these tiles around the house. These are quality!
I have to conclude with some arrested decay. There are a number of old brick buildings here, it was fun to see the stucco peeling, just to reveal older stucco.