Friday, August 30, 2013

Tour of Healdsburg California - A Blog Hop with Treasures Found!

When I saw the Staycation Travel Challenge at the Treasures Found blog earlier this month, I jumped at the chance to participate. The premise of the challenge was simple. Take a staycation in your hometown, gather inspiration, and channel your inspiration in to a creative project! 

For this challenge, I profiled my hometown, Healdsburg, California. For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Healdsburg, its a small town in Sonoma wine country, just an hour and a half north of San Francisco. I created a beaded flower ring using the inspiration garnered from my stay cation. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see my ring, and enjoy the photo tour along the way!  


Top left: Chardonnay grapes ready for harvest. Top right: Dried lavender on the patio of Diavola. Bottom left: An afternoon paper flower workshop at Healdsburg SHED. Bottom right: Fresh flowers for sale at Healdsburg SHED
Wine tasting! Travelers please take note: nearly all tasting rooms close promptly at 5pm, so be sure to get your tastings in early in the day! 
Inspiration abounds at the boutiques around the Healdsburg town square! These gorgeous African hand beaded bracelets can be found at Circumference Imports Gallery
Bocce ball at Campo Fina. You can find this restaurant right on the town square. You'd never guess it from the entrance, but in the back lies a gorgeous courtyard with tons of outdoor seating and a full size bocce ball court! The world class food doesn't hurt either ;) 
Lime Stone is a beautifully curated boutique located right on the town square (Healdsburg Avenue and Matheson Street). Come here for home accessories you can't get anywhere else! 
If you do just one thing in Healdsburg, make it the Alexander Valley Bar at Medlock Ames! You can do a wine tasting here during the day, or, at 5pm, the tasting room closes, and their speak-easy style bar opens! As you can see from this image, this bar happens to be on a vineyard, and you can walk the gorgeous grounds, wine or cocktail in hand! Close to the Healdsburg/Geyserville border,  It's the perfect stop for a drink before going out to dinner! 
Alexander Valley Bar grounds at twilight. 
Rustic Restaurant at Frances Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville California (neighboring Healdsburg). For dinner, you can't beat the view at Rustic. Call for a reservation, and make sure you request a seat outside! 
Moon over the vines in wine country. 
As you can see from the photos above, Healdsburg has a strong agricultural influence. I noticed a lot of chartreuse green, and hints of pink everywhere! This is what I came up with for my "Healdsburg-inspired" piece of jewelry.

My Healdsburg inspired ring! Three flowers on a gold wire wrapped ring! Each flower was in made in a different shade of pink, with a small beaded green leaf below. 
A close up of one of the flowers. Each flower was made with two layers of five petals each. The top 'petals' are each made with loops of four beads. The second layer of petals were made with eight beads each. The centers were made with round pearls that I recycled from an old necklace of mine. The wire looping allowed me to 'shape' each petal. 
So there you have it. Staycation 2013 was a fabulous success! A huge thank you to Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati Jewelry for including me in your 2013 Travel Challenge! I had a blast participating!

*Update* To see the complete list of blog hop participants, follow this link: http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2013/08/2nd-annual-challenge-of-travel-stevens.html 

31 comments:

  1. Just gorgeous, both the tour and the pics.

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    1. Thanks Shaiha! While I'm a California girl now, I grew up in Washington State and I LOVED your Tacoma tour and jewelry!

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  2. You live in a gorgeous part of the world - I want to visit!

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    1. Haha, come visit anytime! Before I lived here, I was in Washington DC (and a large suburb of Seattle WA before that). I often complain about how 'small' Healdsburg is, but this bloghop has shown me that there are towns out there even smaller than mine!

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  3. Lovely piece and your pictures are beautiful. What a pretty place to live!

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    1. Thanks Marti! I really enjoyed your post too!

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  4. Beautiful photos! What a great tour! I looked at the one picture of those flowers, then back at your ring, then went back through every picture and you are right, there are shades of pink everywhere. Beautifully inspired.

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    1. Thank you :) Loved your Wright Brother's inspired piece! I went through a huge Wright Brothers kick back in Washington DC (sparked by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum!) Looking forward to seeing more of your posts!

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  5. So jealous of your staycation! Thanks so much for sharing the wonderful wine country photos! I think your ring captures your location perfectly!

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    1. Thanks Beth and Evie! I'm way impressed with your hand cut copper pendant and your lampwork beads!

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  6. Gorgeous photos!!! I love California and we have been there many times but still there are so many places we have not yet explored. Thank you so much for the lovely tour!!

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    1. Thanks Alice! Loved your prairie photos! And! After browsing around, I'm totally planning to try your broccoli salad recipe! Looks amazing :)

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  7. That would be a gorgeous place to live. I love your ring. The flowers are so cute!

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    1. Thanks Tanya! Your beadwork is *incredible*! You have a real talent for jewelry making!

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  8. I love this area of California! My sis ter lived in Gualala for many, many years so I've traveled the North of SF area extensively. Thanks for the tour. I love your rings!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! Loved your Cali post as well! :)

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  9. Your photos left me wanting to visit Sonoma again. Very pretty ring; I always admire those who work with seedbeads. Now I feel like a glass of wine. Andrea

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    1. Thanks Andrea! Loved your autumn inspired piece. Sonoma county is great, but we don't get as much of a "Fall" as you guys do up North! Enjoy the crisp air and autumn leaves for me!

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  10. Wonderful pictures reflecting where you live - hope to get there some day!

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    1. Thanks Caron - I've been wanting to go to Australia, so let's switch places, hah! Your bracelet is gorgeous!

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  11. Love your photos, their warm atmosphere. They seem familiar to me, yet not, since I'm from a wine growing area too – only on the other side of the globe. ;D Love the ring. <3

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    1. Thanks Sandra! I see you are in Germany! Riesling is my favorite wine so I often find myself wishing I was over on your side of the world!

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  12. Oh I love Healdsburg, spent many a pleasant day there eating and wine tasting when I lived in the Bay Area (more than 10 years ago now). Your beautiful ring captures the colours wonderfully.

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    1. I've only been here two years but I'm already in love with the area! Had a great time reading your post. I loved the color schemes of both of your pieces! The first one is so cheerful and happy, and the second one is stunning! Looking forward to following your blog in the future!

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  13. What a sweet, sparkling (as in the bubbles in sparkling wine) ring!

    Love that first photo from the bar -- what a surrounding! And the sparse light really add to the warm, calm atmosphere of the picture. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you - loved your amazing pieces as well, especially the CROWN! I'm obsessed!

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  14. Miss Charlotte! Fluff up the guest pillows because I think those pictures will inspire many who will want to visit your fair city! I had the good fortune of traveling to San Fransisco in 2008 to celebrate my 40th birthday. We got to spend one day and night in Sonoma and I would dearly love to go back. It is a marvelous place. The air is just different there. The colors have this vintage quality to them and I love the laid back style. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful place! I love your sweet little beaded flowers. Thanks for joining me on the staycation journey! Enjoy the day! Erin

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    1. Thanks Erin! Hope to blog hop with you again sometime soon!

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  15. Oh wine country. One of the places on my bucket list. I can only hope to enjoy the wonderful area you have at your fingertips. Thank you. Your beaded ring is so delicate and a real treasure.

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    1. Thanks Marlene! Loved your colorful necklace! So pretty!

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  16. I finally got my post up a couple of weeks late and have been enjoying hopping. I like Healdsburg. You took some great pictures and made a pretty necklace.

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