I'm not saying I'm friends with my friends just because they are good-looking....my friends are beautiful inside and out. My family too. But it sure helps, when looking for top models for my scarves if they are kind and aesthetically pleasing ;-)! This week, two loyal and brave friends (Els... Continue reading

So, my felting (yes Karen, I said 'felting') obsession continues in full force, and I promised a tutorial right? but then i got carried away playing with 'nuno' felting. Nuno (Japanese for 'cloth') describes a felting technique when wool or other loose fiber is bonded to a sheer fabric (most... Continue reading

On Sunday my blog went over 2000 hits (total, not per day)!! This may not seem much to seasoned bloggers but I'm a very proud infant blog mama! What I'm super excited about is how international the blogkingdom is. Champagne in One Hand... has had visitors from 36 countries (that... Continue reading

What do you get if you cross these: with a pool noodle, some bubble wrap, washing up liquid, vinegar, hot water, a pair of knee-high tights, a rolling pin and a towel? (No, it's not a joke!) This!!!! (and my new obsession ;-) I made the iris scarf with white... Continue reading

There's a lot of sheep in Iceland. That many sheep must produce quite a lot of wool... and it's cold in Iceland, most of the time. No wonder Icelandic folk have an affinity for all things woolen (in addition to elves and trolls and vikings). This blog post is a... Continue reading

Just like Rihanna (who knew she crocheted?), chains and WIPs excite me! I haven't talked about crochet for a while on my blog but believe me, there's still plenty going on. Here are a few of my latest Works In Progress :-) First up: the yarn-gobbling Glamorous Granny from Le... Continue reading

A week has flown by since I returned from Iceland! Sadly, this adventure was the "last huraah" for my faithful, world-traveling netbook....it must have been jiggled around in one too many timezones :-( "Death due to fried motherboard" (ouch!) recorded last week. RIP dear friend, you will be missed... So,... Continue reading

This weekend I entered 3 of the 1000s of photos taken during my 13 months of travel around New Zealand, South America and India to the Photography competition at Ventura County Fair. I naively presumed that it would be a low key, small scale affair; me and approximately 8 other... Continue reading

Yeah, so I got itchy travel feet….. I blame the fact that I was hungry when my friend Lorelle suggested an adventure to Iceland (we were at brunch) and I nearly snatched her passport-holding hand off! Iceland - somewhere between Greenland and Great Britain She preyed on my weakened state;... Continue reading

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a packing supremo! If packing was an Olympic sport, I’d be atop of medal mountain. When travel beckons, my bag is packed quicker than you can say “pronto”, in a compact, spatially efficient and effortlessly stylish manner, ready to go at least... Continue reading

Happy Friday Everyone! This is the third part of my series of F(Ph)enomenal Friday posts about the people of Children Walking Tall kids charity in Goa. Click on Part I and Part II for the previous articles. If good things come in small packages, today’s F(Ph)enomenal person is, um, phenomenally... Continue reading

These booties are made for walking... and that's just what they'll do... one of these days these booties are gonna walk all over you. (my boyfriend must really love me to pose for me like this ;-)) July 4th weekend was all about booties (and some barbecue and star spangled... Continue reading

I vowed I’d never do it….never!! never!! never!! No way Jose would I crochet a GRANNY SQUARE!!!! It just seemed too, um, grannyish! I realized I was granny-prejudiced but I get teased enough about my "habit" (read obsession) and crochet already suffers from an (undeserved) reptuation of being a bit... Continue reading

This is part II of a series of F(Ph)enomenal Friday posts about the people of Children Walking Tall. For part I, click here. And today, I welcome you to..... “Who Wants To Be A (rupee) Millionaire” (cue loud audience applause) For 1000 rupees: Have you even seen or read about... Continue reading

Happy 1000 hits to me, Happy 1000 hits to me, Happy 1000 hits dear Champagneinonehand.typepad.com (sing really fast), Happy 1000 hits to me! Yep, over the weekend I passed the 1000 views milestone on my blog (who woulda thought I could hit the refresh button that many times?!!). I’ve had... Continue reading