Monkey Quilt Finished

Here is the small quilt I made for my niece Angie.  I took an old block that my Mom had in her fabric stash.  It was a nice big block that she might have found at an antique shop or a garage sale.  On this block had some kind of substance that would not come out in the wash and that is when I chose to cover it up with applique flowers and leaves and the monkey.  YoYo's flipped over are the flower middles to give a little height. Embroidery for words and leaves give the message and interest .  It is all hand quilted with an outline three times around the flowers in the body to emphasize. It measures 20 X 20 and it had cotton batting.

It has a narrow hanger on the back to slip a dowel rod through or even a stick from a tree. 

Signing the quilt is very important.  It answers questions that people may have.  In this case I embroidered the tag and appliqued it on to the back.  This process took 4 hours, I believe I will find a more time saving process in the future but it will still tell the story and add interest. 

I so enjoyed making this for my dear niece. 

Thanks for stopping.

Happy New Year 2015

It's a cold, windy but sunny New Years Day here in the Midwest.  It is finally
feeling like winter.  We had a really nice New Years Eve together, just the 4 of us.  We
 decided a dinner a movie was on the agenda.  Went to a nice Italian Restaurant in Fort
Wayne named Salvatori's...  mmm mmm....so good.  The breadsticks were fabulous and
 the salad, crunchy and delightful.  This makes me think of one of my favorite songs
 from Billy Joel.... Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. If you haven't heard it...
click here.  If you're wondering....I had a glass of white.... Moscato.



Then we wanted a comedy and Tom and I always like Bill Murray, so
 St. Vincent was it, ( guys didn't quite know who he was.  All four of us enjoyed
 it though, the actors were great. I especially enjoyed the young boy actor.

Jaeden Lieberher

  You know it didn't get such good reviews so we knew that it would be fine. 
 It gave us some good laughs and some tears (at least for me).  Click here for the trailer. 


Then we came home and watched the ball drop in Times Square and observing
all the people there looking like they were having a great time. 

I told Tom that should be on our Bucket List....to make it to Times Square
 on New Years Eve......Ehhh, I don't think so.  All we could think of....where do
 they go to the bathroom...you would lose your spot by the time you got back. 

It's a great place to watch on T.V.
 

                                                                            

                  

I met a friend on Tuesday for lunch and we always go to the bookstore to look around. 
 One of my very favorite places.  I saw this book and it grabbed me and I decided to
download it electronically.  It still amazes me when just out of the air it hits my
Ipad magically when I bought it on my pc.  I am going to use this throughout the next
 year here on my blog.  It has great, thought provoking but light stories. I have had a bit
 of a detour here in this last month of the old year, and thought that it might help me
 through it. 

The story that sold me is Lesson #7...Cry with Someone.  It's More Healing than Crying Alone.
I am confessing that I am a crier.  I cry at happy things, I cry when others are happy,
I get choked up at the National Anthem, I cry when children are singing, I cry when
I am mad and of course when I am sad, let me tell you... then it is excruciating. 

My brothers and sister would make fun of me when I was little (I am the youngest) because
I was a crier.  We always  now say on the NBC Nightly News, that it wasn't a good ending
 if Brian Williams didn't get me to cry.  He usually ends the newscast with some kind of
 touching story.  My son Kevin always says he doesn't understand why I cry at happy
 things.  I said "I just feel it, I am touched by it." I just can't help it.  Then I found this
book.  The author lives in Cleveland and she is the same way.

Here is a paragraph from the book:

Then one day a counselor told me that those tears were an asset. Carol said they were part of me, just like
 my blue eyes and brown hair. “What a wonderful gift, to feel so intensely,” she said.
Brett, Regina (2010-04-01). God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours (p. 35).
 Grand Central Publishing. Kindle Edition.

It was good to know that there are others like me. 

  

So I have been in my studio all day today and most of the time there is at least
one furry kid with me.  I have been updating my blog, and making lists and they were
on my table enjoying the sun.  They are just like human kids...I watched that little paw come out and touch Lily (left) and then I hear a low growl and it pulls back.  Ever so gently it
reaches out again and then I hear a more fierce growl like (Quit touching me!) then the
fight begins and off they go.  At least everything stayed neatly on my table. 

So may you have a wonderful 2015.
Come back and we will go through the journey together. 

Smoothie time

Smoothies for the House (that would be just two of us though)

I made these this morning for Sam and I.

1 1/2 cups Frozen Blueberries
1 container Light and Fit Greek Vanilla Yogurt
1 scoop of whey protein powder
1/4 cup 1 minute oatmeal
1 cup orange juice
1 cup 1% milk
a sprinkling of cinnamon

Blender it and it's good.  Next time I will do 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1 1/2 cups 1% milk to take away some of the sweetness. 

If you have some good smoothie recipes that you have made let me know. 

Thanks for checking in. 

Paper and Ink

I really enjoy making tags.  They are quick because the surface area is not so big.  Many different mediums can be used and I love dimension on them also.  I made a couple for Nicole, a girlfriend of my nephew. 

Some Tim Holtz techniques were used on this one.  The is a small line of Washi tape also.  I used paint dabbers and distressed ink. 

Made some thank you cards this morning.  I used the paintbrush stroke stamp.  I hadn't gotten it out before and it was quite enjoyable.  The cuttlebug was brought out also and I tried to use up every piece. 

They turned out colorful and happy....just how I like em.!

Thanks much for stopping!

 

A New Painting

Last July my great nieces and nephew came over to swim.  Liam, Neve and Fiona. 
I loved this picture their Mom took of them in the goggles.  Kids love goggles, no matter how many times they come off in the water.  Every kid that came to the pool asked "do you have any goggles?"  So I picked some up at Big Lots...they were always a major hit. 

I decided to paint this picture for my niece Wendy...their Mother for Christmas.

Here I sketched it out, trying to especially get the tilt of Fionas head correct.  This wasn't tilted enough, but I knew what I had to do. 

Here is the finished product.  It was a big hit....she cried....I cried...I get emotional over happiness.  Oh, and the name of it is Goggly Eyes...I made the o into a g after I scanned the picture. 

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

We sure did, spending it with family, that's what it's all about, the birth of Jesus and his family!

Cards

Made some cards to send to my stamping friends.  I love the O made into a wreath.

A Judith stamp I colored in then embossed dots over it. 

I love my little birdie diecut. 

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm a little teapot

School is over now, December 12th was the last day, another semester down.  The last assignment of the semester in ceramics was to make a teapot and two cups preferably on the wheel.  I got it done but quite primitively. Glazing is like magic to me.  You can't quite tell what the colors will be  until after it is fired, you don't know how they will react to each other if you use more than one. When it does get fired it's shiny! The colors I used were a red and a green.  I dipped it completely in red and dipped the top in the green. 

This one I did the opposite.  Dipped completely in green and the rim was dipped in the red. 

The spout on the teapot was thrown also.  I was just glad to get one made that could be attached.  It can only get better.  I like the lid only it doesn't fit....it shrank. 

We also had to do a paper on an ceramic artist.  I chose an Indiana Artist named Carol Bell.  She started Blue Moon Pottery in Noblesville, IN.  This is one of her pieces, of course the red attracted me.  I liked her for many reasons.  She bases many of her pieces on nature and the colors she used are just great.  She also is an inspiration because she started when she was older and had been in the corporate world. quit that world, took ceramic classes at the Indianapolis Art Institute and then opened her business.   

Here she is...Carol Bell. A very gracious and interesting woman.

Her pretty ceramic poppy cups.

I love her sunflower cup also.  The texture in the middle was made from the end of a sharpie cap. 
The website is http://www.bluemoonpotteryonline.com/about.htm.

I hope you stop and see what else she makes.

Thanks for checking in with me too!

 

Book Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I read this book about 2 months ago and just hadn't gotten around to doing the review.  Today is the PERFECT day to do this. 

The book starts out with a high school English teacher who is 35 years old name Jake Epping and is in Lisbon Falls Maine. One day the owner of a diner that he frequents asks him to come to the diner after hours because he wanted to show him something.  Jake was perplexed because he had no idea what it could be about.

When he got there the owner of the diner looked years older and was definitely sick and he had just been in the diner the day before.  He showed Jake a back room that would take him back in time to the same town, Lisbon Falls but to the 1950's. When he would come back, no matter how long he was gone, two minutes would have passed. 

Jake also taught a GED class and he had given the assignment of his students writing about a night that change their lives.  One of his students wrote about the day that his father killed his family and this deeply affected the teacher. 

After finding the time traveler room he thought about going back to the area and intercepting  the father from killing the family and what he had to do to get this done.

After he did it he came back through the room to see how this had affected modern day life and the man who wrote the paper. 

Then Jake and the diner owner decided that the world would be better if he would go back and stop Lee Harvey Oswald from killing President Kennedy. 
Along the way he met a woman he fell in love with and he couldn't give out his real identity and had to falsify information and the woman eventually confronted him because she felt he wasn't telling the truth. 

Essentially he had to live two lives down in Texas.  The one where he was a school teacher in a small town and the other watching Lee Harvey Oswald and his family when they moved to Dallas. 

Leading up to the shooting of President Kennedy the book was very exciting with many twists and turns.  It gives a lot of history and food for thought.  It was a very enjoyable book and also it brought up again the thought....Did Lee Harvey Oswald ask along or was it a conspiracy?

After you read it, you will draw your own conclusion. 

Thanks so much for stopping.


 

Owl

I saw this little guy on the cover of the Birds and Blooms magazine and decided he would be a good subject to draw with graphite pencils.  Many good lights and darks and texture to practice with.
He is a Northern Saw-whet Owl and I copied the description from the great All About Birds website:

A tiny owl with a catlike face, oversized head, and bright yellow eyes, the Northern Saw-whet Owl is practically bursting with attitude. Where mice and other small mammals are concerned this fierce, silent owl is anything but cute. One of the most common owls in forests across northern North America (and across the U.S. in winter), saw-whets are highly nocturnal and seldom seen. Their high-pitched too-too-too call is a common evening sound in evergreen mountain forests from January through May.

It doesn't sounds as if we would be able to get a look at him but if you go to the website there is a spot where you can listen to his call. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Clay Projects

In ceramics class we have advanced to learning how to throw clay on the wheel.  Its a fun, messy job that takes a lot of brain power to learn. 

Three bowls from last night.  I had help getting these started.  I haven't got the hang of starting it out.  It was determined that I am pressing too hard....I think I have to relax and not try so hard. 

You definitely have to wear clothes that are very washable. 

My house tiles all fired.  We were learning how the glazes react.  My flowers were supposed to be red and they turned green.  The Professor is new this year and he didn't know how the glazes that were on hand would react either.....they have been removed from the cupboard.  Learning also how much is the right amount of glaze because the yellow is splotchy.  I still like my house, it has lots of interesting features.

I wasn't happy with my little plate because the white was not smooth.  Prof. says that he will show a trick on how to make it better and we will fire it again.  I am happy with my floaty leaves though. 

Some of these were from the first night on the wheel and some on the second..the difference...look at the bottoms.  We were shown how to trim the bottoms.  They are still wet so I will go back and trim.  I will keep these, fire and glaze.  The object is to make two good cups and a teapot.  The teapot can start out on the wheel and then hand built the rest of the way.  This is the final project in clay for the semester.  It's a long process, from designing, to building, to drying, to cleaning, to glazing, to firing. 

This little lady lost her left leg when I was glazing her.  The glaze we are using (and I won't spell it right) sounds like this...terrasige....from what I understand it is made with clay and we are brushing it on and rubbing it to a high sheen.  We will then pit fire the piece and then it will look ancient.  I will keep her leg and adhere it to the other so it looks like she is crossing her legs.  It's pretty cute~

Her sweet face, in the drying faze her neck bent a little bit so she now has a whimsical tilt to her head.  She IS a piece of work, with a lot of personality!

Here is my oval bowl.  I'm not really happy with the colors but it's still a learning process.
My tall pitcher, flowered candy dish and the little lidded container with the flower on top were in the kiln last night. 
They should be ready to look at the next class. 

Thanks so much for stopping!

Front Door/Fall Decorating

I picked up this magazine the other day.  I loved the black door and all the different colored gourds.
It turned out the this is a design that P. Allen Smith built and it is a 1600 square foot cottage.  Now P. Allen Smith is a gardener so he probably grew all those different gourds, it would have cost me quite a bit to get all of those.  It has a black door like mine, I could have put a cat on the porch instead of a dog.  I have white pillars and a gold handle like is on the door.



Here is my scaled down version.  My pumpkin and gourds I picked up at Lowe's for half price.  The greenery kale in the pots I found for $1.50 each.  The full and beautiful mums were even buy on get one free or BOGO as in advertising now.  I thank my friend Theresa for finding that good buy!

I have moved all the pictures off the tall bookcase and am moving in pottery.  Some of it even dates back to my gradeschool days and both my son's also. 

The corner picture cabinet now.  I like it.

I also like my pineapple and the angel holding the pineapple.  The girl sculpture riding a crow with a little pumpkin in it's beak. 

Boy today was a pretty, we have to enjoy these days, they are numbered.

I hope you got out and enjoyed it. 

Halloween Faces 4

It was a very cold, windy, rainy, snow showery Halloween.  It didn't stop the trick or treaters, but the crowd did seem to be thinner than in years past.  I would ask the kids if I could take their picture and they happily obliged with big grins.  Can't you tell??

The woman in this picture and the man in the next told me they met on Halloween and love it.

This is a great outfit.  He was very intimidating walking up our driveway.

I asked if he was a mountain man....he said no...I'm Davy Crockett!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are twins.

 

This sweet, little orange crayon was a special visitor earlier in the week along with her parents.

We had such a nice visit!

The swamp monster.  Scary but good.

Hope you had some good costumes visit your house.

Thanks for stopping by.