MATERIAL PLEASURES

Designers Create Golden Cloth from Spider Silk - Threads

2012-02-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

Designers Create Golden Cloth from Spider Silk - Threads

sewing something for the cat

2012-02-01T17:21:00.000-06:00

This was to be a quick and easy(Q&E) project. Then i consulted my friend Deanie, who is always making simple home dec items to which she attaches her absolutely fabulous embroidered images. Easy was replaced with piecing. It is a chair cover for cat 1, Spunky, who has just decided that he no longer wants to sit in the specific chair that this is being made for. After some misunderstanding of Deanie's fast and easy method of gluing down the pieces and sewing them onto a piece of muslin i resorted to fusing. By now the Q&E were long gone. The glue residue became a problem and caused the needle to jump, and the air to be filled with naughty words. Here it is laid out before fusing.

I should add that this is also to use up my stash of fabric and make more room for all kinds of projects and mixed media. In the course of reorganizing fabric I have discovered many historic pieces. mostly from the era where i tried to use the more muted and dull fabrics. (The dominant thought on viewing these is to have questions of my sanity, they are really quite awful) These seem to be the content of my stash as the orange was replenished as were the other brights over the past year. The cat stash, too cute to cut up is a very large box and the rest of it is scheduled for a couch cover, Tripper the other cat's, chair.

The Parsley Gals

2012-01-26T21:48:00.000-06:00

Over the last four week i have participated in the Strathmore workshop 1, run by Traci Bautista. It has video tutorials and a print out. The latter is rather pathetic and minimal. The video is packed with information but since i have now had to add videos to my "challenged" list, it has been quite an ordeal. Being video challenged means you have to watch it many time and start and stop it to try and assimilate what is going on9 Also called OLD). The first lesson was really fun and involved lots of paint spraying. Eventually this technique was mastered. The second class was beyond my grasp, not so much the techniques but it was just different materials and no discernible special outcome. Class 3 was the background for making her glam girl, a one eyed green goddess, her graffiti style. Class 4 was the "glam girl" great fun. Since they were painted in green they were sort of ethereal or other world or just plain cookie. All i could think of was an age old superstition that if you eat too many carrots you turn orange; in this case, too much parsley .

So Now for your great pleasure; I PRESENT

THE PARSLEY GALS

"Am i pissed off"

You Said what!

Kiss me quick

"help i am being attacked by vegetation"

I cannot recall ever doing faces except for dolls and i sure have never painted a picture before. this is perhaps the first and last! So here you have it, stylized green goddesses.

Huichol yarn painting.

2012-01-21T14:28:00.000-06:00

I am cleaning out my studio and originally thought about donating my Huichol yarn painting to a thrift. We had it wrapped up since we moved due to the damage. Now we have it out, we want to try to see if there is anyone who can repair it. We bought it in Mexico in the 70s. It was made by an inmate at a prison, in Guadalajara

The damage is in the lower left and at various spots throughout. The wall where it was displayed at our home in Sugar Land was west facing and we think the sun melted the wax. If you are not familiar with this kind of art it is made by the Huichol who use wax to adhere the fabric to the wood backing. The figures are mystical images that appear in a religious ceremony when they take peyote.

it really is fantastic and has not lost any of the color.

here is a close up of tha damage spot and it shows a little of how it is made.

There are a few men who make them in Santa Fe. maybe we better plan a trip there.

Ella in coat

2012-01-19T13:27:00.000-06:00

Here is the photo of Ella in the faux fur coat I made her from the Daisy Kingdom pattern.

Strathmore On line Workshop

2012-01-03T15:01:00.000-06:00

Strathmore is again offering a free 3, 4 week workshops. Traci Bautista is the first instructor. I signed up for all 3 knowing that I may just follow some of them. First one is a kinda splash around of paint. It is all about her technique and of course a chance to plug her new book Doodles Unleashed. it is all about layering and using different kinds of paint.

The first class was about spraying over stencils and found objects then doodling onto this background. So I failed spraying 101. Honestly my sprayer would not work!!! So today i will try again. A great way to create backgrounds and us up old acrylic paint!

She used a huge piece of watercolor and all that was in my stash was 9X12.

So here are today's masterpiece collection. They will make fabulous covers for some books.

A Visit to Florida

2012-01-01T15:17:00.001-06:00

I would love to be able to post my blog on road as we travel but the WiFi connections were abysmal on this trip and I was only able to read email about 3 times. leaving on Sunday December 18 and heading to Dauphin Island Alabama rain was our companion. The best laid plans were thwarted before we reached the island when the lady at the Welcome center told us the ferry to Ft Morgan was not running but it might be fixed by Tuesday. It just so happens a pleasure craft sunk at the ferry landing dock and the owner refused to pay $5,000 to raise it.
The bridge to Dauphin island a sand bar off the Alabama coast. it was cold and wet.

the old Fort built to repel the British and used in the civil war.

So we headed back on Tuesday along the coast road to our favorite spot Henderson beach a FL State park, a stretch of pristine beach along the northern gulf shore know as the Emerald Sea. The sand is white here and the colors of the ocean, emerald green shading to pale blue where it meets the ocean

We managed a walk along the beach in the evening of arrival and the morning of departure as the rain raced to join us. we were headed to another park on St Joes island a sandy peninsular that we could not see as it was hidden in the fog. So we headed south for the west coast and Ft Myers as the forecast predicted sunshine and 80 degrees.

So to palms and warmth where patches of the everglade seek to survive human takeover.
the beach close to Ft Myers

the sand here is not really white but very fine.

We crossed onto an island that had obviously been inhabited for a very long time as the vegetation had grown up round the tantalizing mansions. They always look better when you catch glimpses behind walls and gardens. The draw bridge raised to let the yachts sail through.

this is the fishing pier at the Edison winter retreat. he was trying to find an alternate source of rubber so the plants here were spectacular.

Chris takes on Edison at his Ft Myers retreat! A charming unpretentious house.

The reason we went to Fl was to visit Sandra. We met when we were 2 years old, in Warrington, UK and remain friends. She has lived here for many years. She is a true sun worshipper

Ft Lauderdale

Alana, Sandra's 8 year old GD who taught herself to play the recorder from on-line videos and pdf file.

Daughter Dawn helps Sandra prepare Christmas eve dinner

Ft Lauderdale around 4pm.

it was lovely to visit with Sandra.

I left home with a scratchy throat that turned into bronchitis. A visit to a doctor and pills have relieved it and i feel great. (There was a 2 hour wait to see the doctor, in a VERY cold clinic and Sandra had the waiting room smiling as she made comments about questions on the many forms i had to fill out)

We arrived home Friday and spent NYE at home with a bottle of Navarro champagne,then cooked a steak dinner washed down with a D'Argenzio 2006 pinot and round off with TooGood port and pecan pie. The latter libation and sweet delight was washed from my memory but we had fun.

Wishing for all of you, a year that brings good health, laughter and friendships that enrich your life and make everyday a new adventure.

MAPS Chunky Book-2

2011-12-11T16:01:00.001-06:00

Here is book 2, Maps, in the Chunky book swap with the sketchbookproject Yahoo group. The first was in October and that was Music. Uncertain what to do i found the ditty from the song "over the river and through the woods" doing a number in my head. So I sketched it out not once but twice,

over the hills

And through the woods

To family, friends and home

By the time i had completed the first set i was having so much fun and so created set 2, just a little different

Across the river

And through the woods

to our happy hideaway

then I reduced the drawing in PSP and reproduced them, (apologies to Lydia Maria Child, i think it is in iambic pentameter which is why it can hook into the brain) . My words were written out on scraps, then words and pictures were glued to a fold-out book; a painted strip of Tyvek was glued to the cover and called The Journey. the background was a map from Taos NM on the reverse side parts of the USA were glued down( the base was a beer mat). The title is not printed on my book shown below, have to find the wite pen!

It was so much fun to make and makes me smile. There were 11 people in this swap and I had to make 11. The lesson learned is I need to get a Die cutter if there are to be this many participants or my hand will drop off. This is by far the best swap i have participated in because we have to make them almost the same. Lorena, the moderator, doe not need to decide who gets what, we get one of each and everyone is quite spectacular.

The next theme is celestial currently mind is a blank.

A coat for Ella

2011-12-02T15:11:00.000-06:00

Here is the fur coat i made for Ella. I mailed it today. Lets hope it fits and is fun to wear.

It is Simplicity 3940. it is a swing coat. The pattern did not call for a lining. it really needed it as the backing of the fur is a knit, not pretty and possibly scratchy. Neither is it thick. I lined it with silk dupioni that was in my stash. The inside is really a bronze color and because there was not enough for sleeves they are burgundy. The burgundy was a far superior silk but in the sleeves it will not be seen. the coat is a faux fur velour. The pressure on the pressure foot had to be reduced and the stitch length increased. This was discovered when the armhole and sleeve would not fit. otherwise it was very easy to make. i spent about 10 days making it. the buttons are square and are really ornamental as the coat is snapped shut. The buttons have hanging thread as we thought they looked like cat whiskers and after all it is cheetah skin!

This is one of the first images taken with my new Canon Elph 310 camera. It does just about everything except improve my photography. This coat had a nice texture.

Chunky Book Swap Music

2011-11-18T17:34:00.001-06:00

The October chunky book swap theme was music. I wanted to create it in paper and have a fold out. i printed out a figure of a conductor from something in my files of inspiration. (It was at this point i decided i really need to spend time, yet again, learning Paint Shop Pro). i ended up cutting and coloring the figure and scanning it in, then printing it out.

The fold out was painted old sheet music that sucked up the paint. it folds in to look like a book. the fold out represents the idea that music makes your spirits soar and spread your wings.
On the reverse side i made a fabric pocket and added the music tag with the information about the swap.

We had to make 11 of these and send them off 10 to Lorena in Hawaii and she sent us one from each participant.

This is the front, made before counting my music charms when I went to add them there were not enough for the other 10 cards.

T
The November swap is maps. Somewhere you had to use a map. I managed to go off on a tangent then later seeing some very inspiring ideas online.

My gorgeous Day Of the Dead Book

2011-11-05T17:19:00.001-05:00

After i posted yesterday my friend Liz in Chicago sent this photo taken in "Tlaxcala during Day of the Dead and the whole town square was full of spectacular ofrendas." So here is a real one!

yesterday i showed a glimpse of my book made in the paper bag swap. here goes

This is pages 2 and 3. I made page 2 and Janet page 2 and one side of her inset sticking out. this goes in the bag opening

Page 4 is janet, don't you love that tortilla maker. page 5 is the outside of Arlene's bag

Arlene pages 6 and 7 she did not glue down the bag flap completely so it forms a pocket and has a label pushed in it. great way to make it and i love hidden compartments and pockets. The texture of page7 is enhanced with dyed cheese cloth and to the right is a glimpse of her inset into the open bag side.

here is one side of Arlene's insert card. love those images

Now here is where the scanner was supposed to separate these two but it did not. the left is side one from Arlene and the right is side one from Janet on page 3.

this is the other side of Janet's insert. it really is lovely

here is page 8 Arlene and page 9 Janet. this is where scanning is a pain as it was too long for the scanner bed and I could not pull the tab with heart back where Janet placed a pocket and image under the tab and I cut off the last image. So have to look for a camera.

below is Janet page 10 and my page 11. I made an ofrendas (Sp?) to honor my mother who died this year. the food offerings are more like an English feast with a ham, lots of pastries and champagne. The yellow scrunched paper at the top represents the flower garlands and lots of candles to light her way to us. And what sort of celebration could we have without the sugar sculls. Very surprised that there were none available in San Antonio. It goes so well with Janet's dancing couple.

And finally my insert.

It really is a beautiful celebration of the hereafter.

Awful week or two

2011-11-04T13:49:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend of October 22 we headed north to Dallas so I could attend the Bead Fest at Arlington Convention Center. it turns out that the rangers were in the world series so the roads were a night mare. We learned that this was a baseball game! The show was lovely but marred by the loss of my canon point and shoot camera. Once home it was laser eye surgery over a two week period, quick and easy and then I had to do something about the increasing tinnitus and decreasing hearing in my ear. In the affected left ear, the tinnitus was so bad it was drowning out all speech. iPod ear buds at least allow me to listen to TV but socializing is painful and even ever patient Chris was getting exasperated. I was put on Prednisone to try and cut the inflammation in some area where this all happens although no-one is quite sure where it is happening. Menieres remains a mystery disease even after 35 years. At least Serc controls the vertigo and my doctor said that Serc only helps one in nine people. At least one break.

Prednisone is both a savior and a terrorist. Too much and bad things happen. I switched to taking it in the morning, today, as it causes sleeplessness. It is a 20 day course now, started with idea of 14 days and he switched when he saw the hearing graph. It is now going into my right ear.

Then a neighbor and friend of DH had a stroke. A really fit guy who exercises and does not over eat. horrible shock, happily he is improving quickly and will get a stent early next week.

good stuff. A few weeks ago i mentioned the Day Of the Dead swap. it is a paper bag book swap. we make 3 bags into 6 pages and swap 2. Crazy crafty Anna organized it at Sketchbook project. She is truly incredible and as well as mother and wife raises goats and make soap from goat milk. www.PennwoodPuritanicals.com

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is celebrated in most of the Latin American cultures with Indian populations. In the Aztec world death was not thought of as the end but rather the beginning of a life, free from the hardships of earthly life. once a year the dead return to earth. the Catholic church messed with the dates so that it coincided with All Saints and all Souls days. Alters (offrendas) are set up in homes or in country at the cemetery to welcome the dead home. Their favorite foods, drinks and interests are proudly displayed on the altar.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/altar/tradaltar.html

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/altar/

http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/cool/doddecorations.html

traditional crafts were central to the decorations and festivities. Sugar sculls, special bread, paper cutouts and sculptures features happy skeletons and catrinas. IT IS NOT TO BE COMPARED WITH HALLOWEEN, a commercial driven party venture of scary creatures and fear of the dead.

Here is the first page made for the swap. It is a water fall book that means each bag is cut so that they increase in size. Page1 for swap and a card sticking out of the pocket.

inside page two and three. On three i wanted an altar and ussed tissue paper to represent the flower wreathes they make. the candles are to light the way for the loved ones to find their way home.

backside of bag of DOD fabric.

bag two is a photo from the DOD collection my friends the Llanos a sculpture in a box.

page two and three of bag 2. the card sticking out has a recipe for cookies.

Since I do not have a camera I am relying on the scanner to show the bags received in the swap made by Janet and Arlene. This was a fabulous swap and i love everything about it.

This is my completed book and i will create a post of it so here is just a taste of this fabulous work!

busy week

2011-10-16T17:06:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I made chutney after leaving it overnight to blend the flavors, cooked it this morning. Regrettable I did not give it a good stir and placed it on the burner to bubble up and cook down . As a result half of it was stuck to the bottom of the pan and despite filling 6 jars I think it is compromised; that means the flavor is of burnt toffee and vinegar. We shall have to wait for the next episode of "Death by chutney"

What a busy week. Tuesday was art day with Deanie in Boerne. She was working on creating crazy quilt squares from her stash and i played with paper dyed a month earlier. Chris had a colonoscopy on Wednesday and that meant Tuesday was upside down as he could only have liquids and jelly(jello). Wednesday, I also had laser eye surgery for glaucoma on my left eye, my right eye will be fixed in 2 weeks. It is the inherited type. What an incredible procedure.

For the past 6 weeks my tinnitus has been so loud that I have problems hearing. It makes life so difficult. Not that I have let it get in the way of producing art and crafty things. Working on the November chunky book swap, theme is maps, and several other things that I will post photos of later, a great reveal. I finished the Royal ring it is meant to be a copy of the Princess Di engagement ring in beads.

(i seem to spend my life looking for downloaded photos lost in my incredible and forgotten photo organization).

My week ended on an up beat note, a party with old friends and neighbors. Good food, incredible whiskey and fine companions what more do I need!

Ring finished

2011-10-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

In the Nov/Dec issue of Beadwork, there is a ring pattern by Nancy Cain. Finding the large focal triangular crystal was a real challenge so the idea of making it was dropped until September of this year when finishing things became an obsession. Pamela at Bello Modo was a great help not only does she carry the the crystal she has a great selection of 23mm trivolis. She then helped me with the choice of beads to make the ring. Unlike fabric you really have to see the beads to get it right. It is gorgeous !

i am really pleased with it but I need more practice. Tightening the thread is hard as my right hand is not very strong and good at gripping the thread but it is really satisfying to make these little baubles and wear them. So now to the next one.

Where does the day go?

2011-10-01T18:22:00.000-05:00

It seems to have been a very busy week or two or three. It is the time for the semi annual medical and since everyone specializes it feels like doctors take over life. it really is not that bad. The time eater is the world of online.

Two weeks ago the swap bug hit and I joined two swaps and decided to make a set of birthday cards. The latter proved to be a gluey mess. After this battle I switched to the Day of the Dead swap. Research is one of my favorite activities for a swap and the internet is brimming with wonderful photos and information of this Hispanic festival. it is far more complex and interesting than Halloween. My friend Kay mailed me photos of their collection of dancing skeletons and Mexican folk art. This was a paper-bag swap. Amazing how you can turn three paper-bags into an album. I will post it all later when it is mailed out. Next it was to work on the chunky book swap. Since this swap has 11 participants it required a more organized approach. The theme is music and my image collect yielded some excellent ideas. Unfortunately I have once again forgotten how to use Paint Shop Pro so had to work in print master. But it is working out quite well.

This is my work table. I am one of those people who requires everything to be on the work surface and the thought of putting anything away fills me with horror.

Despite this frenzy of cutting stamping, painting, sewing, gluing, redoing, a calamity with a bottle of glue, water sprays and a Pearl X'd cat all is on time and almost complete. Also found time for lots for cooking as the weather has cooled off and squeezed out about 3/4inch of rain.

This is a summer pudding made with stale bread, and cooked plums with a splash of Cassis. It has to be weighed down for a few hours. It was very good. Always forget to photo food as we are always ready to eat and have had a glass or two of wine.

censored

2011-09-10T17:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday i felt like a comment I made on-line in one of my groups was censored. So I decided to make a page for a journal. i gathered all the material and off i went.

Then I decided it was an excellent way to to complete some lessons in Raw Art Journaling and to try out my new printer ( an Epson Artisan 725 Arctic Edition). This did not scan as i expected they became one whole image instead of 5 and I do not know how to get the image to come up the right way without going into PSP.

So now I have to go find the manual and see if it can be done from the scan screen. I was sure there was a way.

Well the gremlins are waking up and making the words jump around the screen. Chris just called and is on his way home. I now remember I was going to empty the washer, make some jello and figure out tonight's menu. that was before I moved this into my studio and decided to do a post.

Orange week

2011-08-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

This week meant a birthday for me and the opportunity for a couple of friends to go orange, for me. Sue with this incredible flower arrangement, well really a sculpture that receives no justice from my photography. I just sit and stare at it as it is so lovely. happily monster cat has not discovered the vines that trail out.

Kay came up with a wonderful selection of orange gifts and of course my favorite is the slap watch. gosh i have such hip friends.

Please note age is not mentioned here as i go into shock every time I hear the figures and have to be revived with Makers Mark resulting in me wondering what happened to the computer screen.

Next year i think it must be an orange food celebration. This year it was very mundane, steaks, quinoa and grilled veggies as the heat makes cooking a test by more heat. The cake was a no bake, made with layers of cream whipped and divided into toffee, espresso and chocolate. The base was digestive biscuits; these are what was used in Prince William's famous no bake chocolate wedding cake. That recipe was considered but it used raw eggs.

Here is Ian trying it out. I will have to try and make it look better.

The rest of my week was spent trying to finish a beaded bangle copied from a pattern in Beadwork magazine by an English beader Jean Power. It worked out pretty good and I learnt a lot.

Then i made a ring using the crystal discarded as the the stripes on the bezel went the wrong way. (you can't see it) it was my first attempt making a ring. it fits so well it may never come off.

So now to cleaning up the bead things and trying to work on a journal or maybe dinner.

Ella's Dresses

2011-08-22T17:58:00.000-05:00

Here is Ella in the dresses I made this year.

This is my favorite. It is from a Daisy Kingdom dress pattern by Simplicity. The pattern was created in the 60s. they have started printing them again and you really need to follow the instructions very carefully. All of this series of patterns requires yards of fabric. The fabric is a tutti fruiti seersucker that is made in Japan. it is really easy care and wonderful to sew on.

The skirt is a fairy fabric and the top is a companion fabric called morning frost. Searched the internet for the fairy fabric. the print is from a children's illustrator popular in the 1920s. As you can see i am also into making fabric flowers.

Ella is five and very tall and skinny. She is very pretty.

this is a dress made from Tutti fruitti fabric but I had a hard time finding a contrast. It is a fabric that vanishes from the store very quickly.

here is Ella at the fairground in Southend with her brother James. this is a popular seaside resort in England quite close to London. He is a lovely polite sweet little boy.

James is 9 this year.

the Blogger gremlin is giving me a hard time so I had better go and make the pizza before he discovers the outside world.

Great job with the photos Laura.

Quinn Mcdonald class

2011-08-20T13:58:00.000-05:00

I purchased the Quinn MacDonald book RAW ART Journaling and signed up for her class on A.R.T.(a yahoo group) it is turning out to be great fun. Learning to use the smugmug photo feature was the hardest part but everyone was helpful

Our first lesson was to create a gremlin that represents all those features that inhibit creating and making. This was sort of a challenge as my gremlin was always my mother's criticism of everything ventured. Once she died I was liberated. Since reading and looking at the gremlins created by the group, a few others have emerged that i had never even considered.

One person mentioned procrastination as passive aggressiveness . What an interesting gremlin that will be.

In another exercise we wrote down who we are. Well i scanned a flat doll i made to represent me some time ago, clothed her and attached her to a label. The background is the part of the voluminous notes included in prescription drugs. It is fine paper and is perfect for stamping or coloring. Added a few passing thoughts

Next is to make a talisman. As i always considered a belief in magic etc. a way of not being in charge it was exciting to have Quinn (http://quinncreative.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/feeding-your-inner-critic/ )come up with an alternative view of a talisman as a reminder to make your own luck. So off i go to finish up the assignments for this week.

PS the book RAW ART Journaling is all about writing in an art journal and it is packed with ideas and exercises that are fun. It is the first book purchased in a very long time where the author actually wrote the whole book. My last few purchases were marred by being compilations of articles by writers mostly of fleeting internet fame. This book has body and the soul of a real writer.

The Sculptor!

2011-08-15T08:50:00.001-05:00

There is an artist in all of us! Even the engineer.

Then we forgot his whiskers. We could not travel with them on!

naughty bunny!

it was the first time in many years Chris carved out a watermelon. He used to always make a swan.

The party was pretty crazy and for those of us who are not bi-lingual a lot of gestures and hand signals. the 'ritas made up for the language difficulties!

Despite the heat the host braved the smoke to prepare yummy fajitas.

Even a young man, Eric home from UT. lots of sides for the fajitas

Ian now no longer a cute little boy explains how to operate to Joanne.

Ian is sure a looker!

12 months in the making

2011-08-05T16:51:00.001-05:00

The necklace was started last July after weeks of checking, matching rejecting and adding beads. Originally worked on during the trip north,it was abandoned in September. Last week after much indecision, trial and error, work started on it again. The original inspiration were two of the hand blown beads bought from Isis Ray in Tucson, at The Best Bead Show.

It was based on a BeadWork pattern, previously made years ago and changed drastically so that the beads from Isis could be used rather than the beaded beads of the pattern. When I make anything it is usually asymmetric. I had to contact Isis and have her send me another bead. Good thing I did not want them all to be the same as she is always creating new beads and it was 2 years since that show.

The ropes are really lime green, twisted herring bone with yellow and fern green Swarovski crystals dispersed among seed beads. The idea for putting the beads on a ladder is from the current Bead & Button magazine. There were no instructions just a photo, so about 5 days of making un-making, many bad words and anguish occurred before it was finally completed to this stage. It needs lots of tidying up.

Here is a close-up of the focal beads from Isis. They really are much prettier than my photo.

this is the magnetic closure that i covered with a beaded band. i think i may make this larger to cover the ends.

Here is the bead end taken with the flash. This is more like the real color. (you can even see the cat hair on the newly washed cushion covers that the boys raced onto as soon as they were washed and put back so SWEET, a personal touch!)

Tonight is pizza night. So off to make it. Hope everyone has a nice evening! Wow its over 100 out there!

The View from the Passenger Seat 4

2011-07-18T17:49:00.000-05:00

Sonoma and Mendocino have the most spectacular coastline, add to that vineyards, fresh produce, breweries, flowers, art laid back attitude and easy access to major cities and to me it is heaven. Mind you the roads are potholed and parks closed but that is the human failures.

Here is the fab bakery in Sonoma.

This is a bicycle rack in the town of Sonoma. gorgeous little square. lots of B&Bs and vineyards.

In Santa Rosa are first winery was D'Argenzio. It was in the town and we were there a long time and had a case shipped!! (We brought two bottles home and tried one this Saturday....to die for smooth, exquisite taste) next on to the only one open and way off the beaten track. The gardens were better than the wine.

Next morning it was overcast, raining and cold. We headed to hog island for oysters. Brianna at D'Agenzio recommended it. She failed to mention you have to shuck your own! Chris only broke one knife.

it was really a river estuary.

Then it was to Petulma, a city lined with gorgeous gingerbread houses, it was raining so hard we just slipped into a coffee bar and headed for Bodega Bay. We ate at the Tides, as we had 20 or so years earlier. I had Ciopinno, a dish full of all types of shellfish in a rich tomato base.

Then we went to the head and actually saw wales flopping around and spouting off. That's is them just off the rock to the right! White sprays are the splash of their tails.

Next day we left for Mendocino and Boonesville , surfing wine in

Healdsburg. We stayed at Boonesville Fairground surrounded by sheep, goats and vineyards. this is the town of Mendocino and 20 mile drive through twisting roads and towering redwoods along the Navarro river

the gardens are just gorgeous, sort of English , below is an Angels trumpet, brugmanesia.

These are very expensive boutiques that have lovely items.

it is also where they grow medicinal marijuana, sure were a lot of sick people around! We visited many of the wineries. This is Navarro. We joined their club 30 years ago and visit then whenever we come west.

I think i over brightened this photo.

Friday was Farmers market in Mendocino. the prices were high. 2 ozs of sea salt $15.

Off to Fort Bragg, the brewery and fish and chips for dinner. Fish from the local fishermen!

Then the botanical garden on the cliffs.

this is the redwoods forests along the river road.

Roses in Philo. They grow wild all over this area of CA.

this is the Husch Winery. We first visited it 30 years ago.

Saturday night dinner at the Bonneville Hotel, it was an in spot in the 70s and remains popular and "in"

last time apples were falling on our heads and kittens scapered around.

It was a very fresh meal all local produce and they served lamb.

great last night

The View from the Passenger Seat 3

2011-07-18T16:49:00.001-05:00

Sears Point, Infineon Race tract is located in Sonoma County CA. It is a road tract, and unlike an oval you don't see all of the race. Sonoma is one of the finest wine regions in the world. it is the first tract where we saw bottles of wine out on tables everywhere! They did not sell wine at the tract.

Here is our Phoenix Cruiser (PC) in our place at the RV camp called 50 acres. We were soon surrounded by hard drinking party goers.

like most parks at a racing weekend they came to party. At Sonoma the crowd was quite younger than other race traks and very friendly. They stop and chat whenever they see you sitting outside. The weather was perfect but dry so no fires and no open pit barbecuing. Also like other tracks they had come for years and had the same spot. This guy even had couches and had set up a bar.

our friendly neighbors quickly told us the grand stand was not the best seats but Turn 7. Chris bought grandstand so i would be out of the sun. he is so thoughtful. Well we checked Turn 7 and it was a very exciting place with two sharp turns.

Here is Chris the only guy covered up.

It was a very exciting spot but the main race started at noon and it was hot and sunny so we retreated to the grand stand.

We could see the pits but they seemed to come into the pits less than usual. loce watching them change the tires and fill up, so fast and organized.

This is Rowdy the M& M mascot for Kyle Busch # 18. At Bristol he won all 3 races He lost to his brother Kurt.

I just knew Rowdy was very pissed off.

That was the last race and most people packed up after the race and left when the day car parks emptied, about 4 hours later. We left Monday for Santa Rosa stopping in Sonoma for coffee and pastry at the Basque Boulangere . bliss! then on to the Santa Rosa Fairground and the start of our wine surfing!

Since CA is a very politically correct state and the current buzz words are sustainable, organic, recyclable and artisanal. the race track ran lots of stuff off solar panal but the grass lands were maintained by sheep. it is very weired to see sheep noshing on the hill side as cars wiz by at 125 mph. Then we saw them all line up and then they were gone. Probably decided to sheer them.

The view from the passengers seat 2

2011-07-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

The distant mountain is Cloudcroft NM. below the camp at Mayhill at dawn.

We set off up the mountain, from about 8,000 to 10,000 feet it was 14 miles of forest

through the tunnel, far easier than in a big Alfa

And a quick descent to the valley, Quite different

then a ride across the valley and onto some terrible side roads to Williams AZ

The next day we headed across the Mojave. Since the water is harvested the mountains are quite barren and the grass is dried up and golden. when you descend into Bakersfield you suddenly are confronted by a patchwork of green and some earth tones. Bakersfield is in the central valley where citrus fruit, vegetables, and nuts are grown year round. that day it was 104 degrees.
We were happy to leave and head for Sears Point and NASCAR. Travelling along 101 the scenery is incredible as the central valley run N to S with mountain chains lined up on each side. one citrus frmer even put up signs showing what fruit tree you were flying by, oranges, lemon, limes, mandarins and then almonds. That solved the endless guessing games that help pass the time away of what is growing in that field. On this trip we had a Garmin that tried desperately to get us to go through San Francisco and then to Berkeley. it managed to lead us into Crockett where a fast Uee (u Turn) by DH in Main S. put us onto the right bridge and to our destination.

Note Photography through the windshield does not yield national geographic material!

The view from the passengers seat.

2011-07-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

With the AC fixed we set out for Sears Point and northern California changing the original plans to avoid the burning heat of the stopover cities along I10. We set out at 7 am crossing over parched miles of a landscape that seems to never end on I 10 to Fort Stockton, making the phrase from the 19th century "go to hell or Texas" no idle threat.

A back road led us through Pecos where oil rigs nodded, reminding us that black gold is in some really hot spots. We headed west through Artesia, an isolated town in the Sonoran dessert that has an interesting sculpture celebrating drilling and drillers,then for 80 miles climbing up into the Sacramento mountains to Mayhill. The landscape from Artesia to Mayhill changes from arid scrub to tall trees, scared by forest fires, meadows and a cool swift flowing mountain stream. The temperature was a cool 89 and the next morning we had to switch on the heat. It works! Ready to leave.
Now where have all the photos gone and the cable to download from the camera?

Kelly Kilmer, J.O.Y. CLASS

2011-06-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

Two more pages for this class.

Here is a great way to use up the inserts that come with Rx and you end up with a stack of them. ( The US ones are written by scientists I think in UK they are written so that the patient understands what they are taking). Tore up lots of inserts, covered page. Returning again to my hip replacement theme, I added the xray as focus image; stamped poppy because when tearing up paper i recalled the hallucinations that came from the opiates they give you so you feel no pain. In hospital the hallucinations were lime green glittery butterflies.

As I read and went over Kelly's notes it became obvious that the words/journaling are merely art details or added parts and that really i should be leaving great areas for journaling. In fact it is a part of

the composition and the images and journaling does not relate. In fact you could make tons of these then go back and write on any you wanted to.

So for this one I found the focus image. Bionica(!), them just found bits and scraps that fitted, played around with background and ended up stamping it as i cannot recall the great place i put my Artists's Cellar stencils.

composition class Horizons

2011-06-13T16:27:00.002-05:00

I have thousands of disorganized images filed everywhere. i keep deciding on new locations and ways to organize them. My latest collection were from Wine Spectator, given to me by a friend. I spent hour tearing and cutting. Also had to read the recipes and ratings along the way. It beats Teen Vogue( the reading TV has some stupid but fabulous ads that make good images, plus you can feel smug and shocked that teens buy that stuff).

The class is excellent, teach is Claudine Hellmuth, very detailed.

This is a high horizon composition. Image below is from wine spectator and ML image is from my on-line collection stored in images, women. It is digitally altered. ML liked this bottle and is tasting the plums, earth and cherries in this fabulous aged cab sav!

Another High Horizon composition , this time in landscape. This is from images found incorrectly filed. That is Houston skyline, interspersed tissue paper between magazine pieces and Bull.

Just make it

2011-06-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

Because we had friends for dinner on Saturday, the latter half of last week was taken up with obsessing about the Cuban feast I was making (Thank you Epicurious). It was good. pork infused with garlic and citrus then slowly grilled and the best black beans and rice ever!

The boys of summer on pet screening, another project in waiting

fabric called

The next "to do" the Simplicity Daisy Kingdom dress and on the list make a collage, homework in Claudine Hellmuth's Class. So instead of my usual frantic "have to finish it" I am playing cool. Cut fabric Sunday, assemble collage, sew skirt today and finish collage. tomorrow read new class notes, and make top.

The work table

The iron is always up but only for sewing. Skirt semi complete, needs a band.

Recently had my machine serviced and now it sews better than ever. Really loving making these dresses. i'l just get good at it and she will want real clothes

I called this Ms Footsee meets High Fashion. i need to tart it up a bit.

The collage, for Claudine's class "composition". It is now apparent that composition was not included in my genes.

NEW BLOG

2011-06-01T13:27:00.001-05:00

Just love this blog as it will inspire when traveling with a journal.

All manner of fun maps

http://www.theydrawandtravel.com/

Artistcellar: Stewart Gill Paints and Fine Art Supplies for the Art Quilt, Fiber and Mixed Media Artist.

2011-05-31T14:26:00.000-05:00

Artistcellar: Stewart Gill Paints and Fine Art Supplies for the Art Quilt, Fiber and Mixed Media Artist.

WINNER, WINNER, WINNER

2011-05-31T14:18:00.000-05:00

Surprise I am the may winner in the Sketchbook Challenge http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/

here is my entry

OK I confess my name was pulled, it was a drawing and all I had to do was enter the correct tag.

My prize is from Artists Cellar http://www.artistcellar.com/

I will have to learn how to put their button on my page

RAMBLINGS

2011-05-24T15:42:00.001-05:00

This is the travel journal made from Linda Blinn's workshop in the Strathmore series offered on-line. it is a rambling account of a flight to Indiana to pick up our new RV, a PC Cruiser and the drive home.

Some of the backgrounds were made before leaving, hence the sunny bright start well it was 80 when we left Texas and 37 when we arrived in Southbend. It was grey rainy and overcast for hundreds of miles. I had forgotten weather like that.

I found this phrase in a travel magazine and thought it suited us well.(sorry if you were the next to read it)

Stepping the first few pages was a great idea Linda.

page one open. we missed the connecting flight, arriving at 10.45pm, way past our bed time. Since it's a journal you gotta write. What better place.

Page 2 open. After the first very cold night we turned on the gas and stayed warm and very comfortable. ( we realized the gas was off it was raining and we had a electric blanket)

This was playing with backgrounds so i wrote on it. It is supposed to be a journal so i felt obligated.

I wanted to keep the information on this park so we never stay there again . Not that Northern Indiana is on our hot travel list. The spots are a cut up envelope with ephemera in them. Big word for junk I collected, lost and found later! beside i love making pockets.

The left side was a "fismal Dailure". Sorry that's one of those Brit play on words.

A favorite place Makers Mark. yummy enough to make the rain irrelevant. Another couple of pockets with enough information to find it again. And yes i did make my own.

This is a pretty state, never to be visited on Sunday and worst of all Easter Sunday. NOT A DROP TO BE FOUND.

here the masterpiece, I added a page extension. Very proud of this. Should it be mistresspiece?

We stopped in Corinth, MS as we headed for home with tornadoes and floods growling on our heels. as you see i practiced spelling.

Louisiana is always fun and if nothing else even the tiniest town has yummy food. This was a campground to remember.(great location and nice friendly staff). And look another pocket.

in the back are the two pockets Linda showed us though she did not sew hers down.
i bound the edge with copper tape because it was hanging around my drawer and i sewed on two orange vintage Bakelite buttons. They should be removed as they are too bulky

So i almost filled this journal. It's the Strathmore acrylic, friendly mixed media 5x8, visual journal. i really like this size.

A journaling lesson

2011-05-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

Taking a class from Kelly Kilmer http://kellykilmer.blogspot.com/2011/05/journey-of-you.html called a Journey of you. This is an effort to make my next travel journal a little different. it is so easy to get in a rut and find you have made the same thing over and over again.

this is how she described it. " In this workshop, you will learn how to create expressive collages using magazines or old books, a glue stick and a small handful of pens.". hopefully it will help to develop better composition and design skills.

here is the image after adding some writing. Since my floor is littered with eyes i some how started thinking of bits of poetry so i looked them up on line and wrote them down . (After all a journal is about writing. ). unfortunately i had stamped the page with a Distress Ink pad. As a result I was covered in ink and the effect was awful so i cleaned up the page with rubbing alcohol. next came the white pen written over the other writing. think i should have doodled. now to clean me up.

RV bedroom drapes

2011-05-22T11:36:00.001-05:00

This was one of those quick one day jobs that ended up taking 4 days. Why, I do not know as it is simple sewing. As one who is measurement challenged this is quite tedious with drapes. the original drapes were made of something posing as fabric and very obviously the color choice of the male of the species, in this case the guy who owns the company building the RV. Why this task is not relegated to Amanda who is the office manager. She has great taste and could sure set the Phoenix apart from the other dull a and dark RVs flooding the market. the samples ranged from almost dark to dungeon dark. I selected the lightest of everything

this is the couch awaiting the arrival of the fab red afghan Lynn made me. To all you Brits an afghan is a throw.

View looking down hall to bedroom

back wall. These were the hardest to make

the TV space window, that is a froufrou Kleenex cover box i made years ago in my CQ era

this is the window behind the bed. I used the bed skirt for the blue and the rust fabric is from the Westminster fabric line. Everything is lined. I knew that lining was worth saving, it was in my stash for years
So PC is now starting to look like it belongs to us. I do plan to add some art postcards to the valence in the main cabin over the couch. in the mean time working on where to put stuff and donating lots of other stuff kept in the Alfa..

Fairy Dress for Ella

2011-05-21T14:27:00.000-05:00

This is the same pattern used for other dresses called Mary Giggles. use Michael Miller fairy fabric and a contrast in green. I made the rose out of a special ribbon bought from Helen Gibb many years ago at the Houston Quilt festival. USING my STASH!!!

The fabric is very pretty even Chris approved!

It was bought with the intention of making a fab Daisy Kingdom pattern but i had not bought enough fabric. Unlike patterns from specialty designers the commercial patterns have the right amount of fabric needed for the pattern, ah well i will have to get to Jo Annes to match up the seersucker in my stash.

Why is Margie ignored?

2011-04-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

Margie Samuels is the wife of the founder of Maker's Mark Bourbon, possibly the finest bourbon ever created. In the house, at the start of the distillery are several sketchbooks showing how she designed every step in the building of this distillery and the creation of the bourbon, in 1953.

here are two of her sketches from just 2 of the sketch books scattered around the house.

Above the sketch shows her design for the bottle and the color of the wax. Throughout this book she details everything from seal to label to colors.

this was the design for the distillery. Pages and pages of every detail.

This is the kitchen where she tried out bread recipes as she figured out she could find the best combinations of grains by making them into bread before they experimented with them in the bourbon. Only in her books was it possible to find her contribution. It was if we are back in the dark ages where women were decorative pieces who were not to be taken seriously. Why was she not acknowledged for her contributions in design, buildings, the bourbon, the PR, the marketing. This woman is a genius.

Maker's Mark, the FINEST of Bourbons

2011-04-30T13:29:00.000-05:00

We traveled directly south from Indiana in the hopes of evading the lines of thunderstorms moving east. It rained all night. We stayed at Grandma's RV just south of ST Louis. It rained all the way south and through the night. Little did we know it was to be the last TV connection we would have for several days. We headed to Bardstown, KY and the Maker's Mark distillery.

This is the site of the original property. It is well maintained and the whole property is just gorgeous. tours are free.

this is not the site of last night's revelry!

This is the start of the tour, a replica of the original, home of the Samuels in 1950 Their colors are red and black.

The fermenting

the vats

All about barrels.

At the end of the tour you get to taste two of their bourbons. It is almost like a cognac so smooth Liquid GOLD Then if you purchase a bottle you get to dip it in the sealing wax.

Here they are cooling down.

This is a a worthwhile stop on the travels. it even quit raining for us.

I want to do a separated blog about Mrs Samuels, totally ignored in the brochures. She was the power behind the throne.

Frozen North

2011-04-30T12:18:00.000-05:00

April 20th we flew to Elkhart, IN, the frozen north, it was 37 degrees there and raining.

Chris in San Antonio airport.

We missed the connecting flight as we stopped in for a quick lunch. So we had a 5 hour wait. We started with the bar.

then to a very nice restaurant specializing in seafood.

Fortified to face the flight.

The Inn at St Mary's, South Bend . The hotel limo was broken so we had to take a cab. It smelt like someone died in it.

breakfast was provided and we watched all the developing storms that were coming our way.

The first glimpse of our new RV, at 27ft it is way smaller than the last one.

Now y'all come in.

Amanda explains how it all works

On the road to Shipshewana, an Amish town.

We ate at this restaurant. It was good very plain food, just like we had in England. the pies were yummy. Regrettably the next morning we needed to return to the factory and it was pouring with rain so no super breakfast.

We headed south and spent the night in KY and then visited Makers Mark Bourbon distillery

Royal Bash, the best of British Shindigs

2011-04-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

Planning to get up at some ungodly hour of the morning to watch the RW. After all this is one of the dumbest things a retiree can do. Well not quite considering the last few days of Meyer Lemon Cheesecake, baking, stir fry and pizza making, dispersed with finishing artsy stuff my feeble mind decided to create a wedding dress for Kate or rather princess paper doll Kate. the usual angst of color and fabric came down to what is in my stash and some good glue. So she settled for cream satin, quite disgusted with the gel medium and not happy that the gems are topaz in her gown but after all she is still a commoner. Not surprisingly she had to shed a few pounds from her curvaceous form. Many decisions remain, such as crown or flowers or tiara. her bouquet will require a last minute rush as flowers are somewhat sparse.

The fitting was my not too palatial royal kitchen, no chance of here.

I should have had a challenge going on this one to see who was closest to the real thing.

Birdhouse assault

2011-04-16T06:30:00.001-05:00

A few years ago we bought this bird house at an Art Fair and wine festival in Arkansas. Last year Chris hung it in a tree down behind the house, viewable from the deck. Just imagine this. What animal attacked it. Those poor terrified little birds.

The house was out of the reach of Tripper, the hunting cat who is currently grounded and on a dusk to dawn curfew for bringing in a baby bunny that Spunk then ate.

April Sketchbook challenge

2011-04-13T16:47:00.000-05:00

The theme for April is branching out or the flip side out on a limb.

i just had to take this literally after looking at Texas Monthly talking about kayaking and thinking about it on a long drive.

In case you missed it the canoes are legs cut from a fashion magazine where the models have incredibly long legs that are fixed to look like sticks.

Branching out is all about the actions coming up later this month when we pick up a new smaller RV; small enough to allow me to drive and also learn how to plan a trip and use a GPS system. No doubt there are several other items I need to learn so I really will be branching out

Weekend cooking

2011-04-06T14:38:00.001-05:00

Cooking is an activity that is great fun. Lots of time pouring over recipes and deciding what to make and what is in the pantry . Usually the desire to cook come post shopping hence the pantry routine and all the goggling. Just hate to have to go out again. Since last week was a run to San Antonio and Central market (SA's answer to Whole Foods) had sent a flier that cowboy steaks were $7.99lb the shopping preceded the cooking. just look at this yummy steak Chris and I have a routine with steaks that involves digital thermometers and resting once temp is reached. This was perfect.

YES The steak is the size of a small roast. We managed 4 meals from this. The night before our neighbor Gary gave us a bottle of Sebastian cab sav. from the Alexander valley, a favorite wine region. What a perfect meal. To top it off was a homemade rhubarb and blackberry pie from pastry made earlier in the week.

It was a rustic pie but the juice just ran everywhere. Taste unmarred.

Ella in her Dresses

2011-04-06T14:19:00.000-05:00

She has really grown up in the last few months

At this point i bet she was cold as it is cold in UK

Sewing Again

2011-03-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

Finally back to sewing and two dresses for Ella are now finished.

Here is the first one made with a Mary Giggles pattern that leaves much to be desired. At Creations, the local quilt store, they had made this dress several times and i loved the combinations of fabric. Here the green is Tutti Fruitti a seersucker fabric, the bodice is a piece of fabric from my stash originally intended to be the lining. It just matched it so well I preferred it. So the bodice is lined with the skirt band fabric.

I just had to show the details and covered buttons.

This is the second dress; skirt is turquoise seersucker and the top is a leftover cat fabric from some shorts that i HAD to use.

The bottom hem is a black and white piping above a band of black fabric with pink spots, made to pick up 3 of the colors in the cat fabric.

I appliquéd the cats onto the skirt as the plain, well was too plain and the kitties are darling. Below is detail of the covered buttons.

Now on to a trial pair of shorts in a blue linen found in my stash. Since surgery my buns appear to have descended so new pattern required. Do you know how hard it is to find a shorts pattern for a woman over 25 who does not want a dropped waist and crotch exposed?

Sewing with a friend

2011-03-01T17:06:00.001-06:00

My friend Kay wanted to make a dress. She has not sewn in many years and so i offered to help her. The catch was she had to come to my house and use my machine and learn to cut with a rota cutter. She settled on a skirt pattern from Simplicity that was for beginners with excellent print instructions http://www.simplicity.com/p-5383-misses-skirts.aspx. We are almost finished. It was so much fun and a wonderful chance for me to review how it should be done, especially that zipper. I always use elastic for the waist. Kay happens to fit the pattern perfectly so no alterations. Here it is with just the hem to be finished.

An organized mess

2011-02-06T17:14:00.000-06:00

In our home we both have our own room. Chris also has a huge space under the house he created after our first winter here when we discovered that a floating house might look incredible but it is COLD in winter.

My Studio is organized but messy. I have a ladder to get up to these shelves. The baskets contain fabric labeled color wise and the lower shelves contain the color I use frequently. The highest shelf has dolls and dust.

"The Only Place I Have to Sleep now she is into this journaling stuff" says Spunky

This is Spunky on the window seat; he has just decided this is his spot since I keep sitting in the chair with the big pink cushion. Under the window seat is more storage. Since surgery i was unable to bend down and get in there. file draw contains ides and inspiration folders along with class materials. Oh the basket on the windowsill is useless programs and DVDs, for disposal. the window faces north.

below is the west wall and the cutting table. Cutting mat covered with red plastic so i can slosh paint and goop around. Not shown are the storage bins for non cotton fabrics The box on the back wall holds patterns and the rest is art papers and the like. This area is going to be redone

Above my paint goes in these drawers.

that is my pressing board. I really should get rid of it. soldering iron, magnifying light, it is absolutely fabulous
below the east wall, has desk and a book case, frames and a la,dder.

This is the south wall and hallway

I consider an ironing board to be multifunctional.

the red crate is full of stamps and goes in one of the draws on top of ink pads. it is resting on the garbage can, the one for paper. Chris is a recycler and I received instructions this week on how i am to use my garbage cans.

And this folks is my happy room.

My New Hip

2011-01-31T16:38:00.000-06:00

The orthopedist gave me a photo of my hip. Don't you love the zipper. it's a shortcut to reach in and fix anything that goes wrong.

(it is my jeans they don't have you strip off.) My femur had a fracture as I have horrible bones. So they gave me a metal plate and wire wrapped it.

He gave me some details of the surgery but it gives me the creeps to hear about all that activity going on in my body. I am just happy with the results. No pain.

Week 4 Strathmore workshop1

2011-01-24T13:33:00.003-06:00

Here is week 1 and week 4 of two journal pages I created during the Pam Carikker workshop 1 of the Strathmore series. I created two collaged pages using the same material except one was ptinted in full color and the second in Black and white (greyscale)

Above is week 1 where i printed in color
Below is week 4 after the piece has been painted over and over with a variety of pens, pencils crayons and mediums.

Here is the black and white page week 1 and below week 4. The whole idea is to make the collage and page blend in. Less a gluebook look and more painterly.

More milliande

2011-01-19T23:54:00.000-06:00

I was very interested in how she made this

This was great fun to make and essentially followed the Strahtmore worshop

this is finding stuff in lines

This was just a quick watercolor and charcoal drawing

Sketchbook Challenge 1 Highly Prized

2011-01-15T16:23:00.000-06:00

The Sketchbook Challenge is a heaven sent opportunity for inspiration to push me to produce. I am more a craft person and certainly not an artist. So it is rather presumptive of me to participate. In fact when the first Theme was presented for the month of January, I was totally intimidated. Jill Berry set a high standard. As the entries rolled in and a discussion emerged in my the Yahoo Sketchbook Project group it became clear that sketching has many meaning so here is my entry.

So Highly Prized is the 2007 Navarro Zinfandel that wine aficionadas go to extraordinary lengths to enjoy the bright zesty aroma of raspberry jam, hints of spice and superb handling tannins

In an effort to get on track and learn some techniques for journaling I had watched all of Teesha Moores' videos and then created some pages, though not truly understanding what it was all about. it was a blast so who needed to know why? Then came the challenge and wow this page was made for the craziness of the wine world where unbelievable prose pours (no pun intended) from the pens of tasters.

Milliande 7,8

2011-01-10T15:13:00.000-06:00

Above is Day 8 Vertical Lines. I cut strips from a magazine and glued to the prepared background. The background was crumpled paper stamped over with Distressed ink, sprayed with Eucalyptus Walnut ink. Then Gesso was spread thinly with a credit card. I then journaled vertically.

this is Day 9 "Layered Linear". Again crumpled paper covered with orange and scarlet pigment. Then glued strips of fabric, the circles are recycled from Day 6 The triangles are painted Lutrador and at the bottom on the right lower edge is painted heated tyvek. Then the whole was covered with a striped poly chiffon that was fused with the soldering gun and glued to base. Sequins were sewed to this.
So I was unable to stay away from fabric. The thought of layer conjures up fabrics .

Milliande Day4,5,6,7

2011-01-09T11:54:00.000-06:00

It is a daily challenge to keep a daily visual journal. My goal is to work on paper and apply new techniques as well as improve my skills without hours of design and creating and switching to fabric and sewing. Posting photos is a time consuming pain as this computer is on its last legs. The newly ordered computer will arrive in 10 days and hopefully with improved memory and speed these tasks will go from onerous to routine.

So we go, Day 4. Tore up strips of paper, glued to page, coated page with Caron D'arche Neocolors; drew face cut it out, glued to background and played with more paints, crayon and pens.

This was the start of my epiphany in terms of what and why I am doing this daily journal entry, it is not a chore rather an opportunity for discovery.

Day 5s theme was a zebra hand and not very inspiring so I just played. Another run in with Blogger photo down loads!

Day 6 even Milliande was tired with the zebra theme and went to a Millipede with striped socks. It just so happens that my wardrobe contains a pair of orange and yellow striped socks. Chris photographed my stockinged legs then and with the aid of Print Master, a background of torn, glued and painted paper scraps this "primitive" art emerged. GAD she has great legs!!!!!!!

Day 7 was stripy window. So, from a sketch in an old sketch pad I re-created this with Neocolors (Christmas gift from Chris), and black pens the view from my window.

Challenges

2011-01-03T17:54:00.000-06:00

This year in an attempt to improve my travel journals and create rather than waste time surfing the net I joined in 3 art challenges. They are
the Sketchbook Challenge http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/ this is organized by Sue Bleisweiss. Since I made a journal after viewing a video by Teesha Moore on her collage techniques I decided I would use my backgrounds for the journal. So later this week I will start to add the theme for this month HIGHLY PRIZED
.
The next challenge is a daily theme on Milliande http://www.milliande.com/art-journal-january-2011.html It appears that it is more a daily technique based on the word zebra.
Here are my rendition of Day 2 & 3.

Today she made rubber stamps. I made a stamp with a potato. Since it was a dinner potato it was too wet.

i called it "Where's the chips? you know French Fries! Now to find some others for dinner.

At the end of 30 days of zebras I may become a little spacey.

Finally signed up for three months of Strathmore workshops. The first is with Pamela Carricker. Her style is similar to Teesha Moore. Created a workshop 1 background making one in color and one in gray scale. The journal is 5.5X 8 so it is quite small. I thought it the perfect size for waiting rooms.

Sacred Feminine Janet RR

2010-12-31T13:39:00.000-06:00

In 2010, I participated in a Round Robin swap of art journals with the Sketchbook Project, a Yahoo Group. Every month a journal arrived and and two pages created for the theme selected by the books owner. My favorite was Janet's. I never showed my photos of it as I wanted it to be a surprise. I suspected the lack of reverence, deep thought and introspection was disappointing. It was fun!
When we were in Tuscon the theme and what to design occupied my mind . When we were driving around the University area I was completely blown away by the football Stadium. It dominated the area, had to have cost millions to build and dwarfed the academic buildings. It struck me that here was todays temple and sports the god. So this was my inspiration for Ballz Goddess of Sport

the cover made from a crumpled painted brown paper bag covered with gel medium

This Ballz on a background of painted torn tissue paper that was coated with high gloss gel medium. The balls from various sports are buttons and stickers.

here are photos of other stadiums. It does not appear to bother anyone that even in third world countries vast sums of money are poured into these temples to soccer, Rugby, athletics etc.

Women seem to take on endless work and tasks. So now we have Hyper Goddess of Multitasking. ipods, ipads and computers have only added to the list from gardening, cooking,sewing, working out, working at home and at work.

This was my offering bag for all and any goddess to accept donations in return for help!

I really had fun and enjoyed this theme. Once I had an idea it was hard to stop.

Another Christmas is over

2010-12-27T17:05:00.000-06:00

Before surgery i set up our only chair with arms and a little higher than the others for me to sit in. While hospitalized it was taken oven by The KING, Spunky. He needs shaking off it for me to sit down. He does let me have it for my coffee every morning. but expects me to drink that second cup quickly.

On to Christmas dinner

We started with a fine white Navarro 2009, Pinot Gris. Here I am with the Cab Sav 2005 also a Navarro. Smooth and superb taste.

After the fine rib steaks we moved to the Christmas Pudding. Of this course I have no memory.

The sauce was liberally laced with brandy, Remy Martin.

Before teaten the brandy was poured over the pudding and set alight. You will not see the flame as apparently I was madly searching for the camera.

Ah, ha the mince pies. the glowing eyes in the background are from tripper who was not a participant in the feast, and moved in to claim his couch seat, disappointed there was no ice cream.

New Mexico Travel Journal

2010-12-22T10:53:00.001-06:00

Santa Fe is my favorite city in the US. It is old, quaint and also a friendly city. It appears to be a favorite place for older women enjoying life. It came as a surprise that i had never made a journal of our trips their. The last visit was just before my mastectomy and this visit was for celebrating life.

My travel books consist of pages from gathered travel catalogs and moments glued onto pages then assembled into a book. This is a little different. I started with folded sheets of card stock dividing the trip into the route to Santa Fe, Santa Fe and Taos.

The cover (above)is made from my fabric paper sewn to Peltex and cotton fabric. We head west on back roads. The land scape is desolate and the marker at the Fort Sumner State Park told how millions of years ago ancient people scraped a living from the semi barren earth before moving on. Nothing has changed, spirit of those ancient people remains, the wind blows, the dust swirls and the sun beats down.

Above is the inside, fabric covered and our trail on the opposite side.
Thats the reservoir at Ft Sumner

Santa Fe has one of the best Farmers Markets in the country even though they tarted it up with a grand building and park like setting. (The land is owned by the railroad). They managed to hire designers who had vision. There is an art and craft section in the park that is quite unique.

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The food is a major attraction in Santa Fe. Top chefs have expanded the local cuisine and the Coyote Cafe had the best chips and salsa ever eaten, washed down with an excellent 'rita as well as over the top entrées. We ate at Amavi for our wedding anni, (the number eludes me!). it was a delightful setting on a side street and we sat out.

The galleries of Santa Fe cover the range of all art. My favorite is the Jane Sauer gallery, as it carries fiber art and some very different art that exemplifies craftsmanship and skill.

We managed to visit The Golondrinas Ranch museum. The last stop before SF for early travelers. The volunteers, mostly women, are sort of in costume and very knowledgeable. There was a fiber show mostly weaving and colcha embroidery. Experimented with ways to store information, from lacing, weaving, and pockets.

This is how all the travel information is stored so I can find it next time we visit.

North of Santa Fe is Taos, a center for skiing and trendy artists. Artemisia is a superb art to wear boutique, outta my price range!!!

Publish Post

Ledoux street has many shops and galleries plus two museums.

Hip Hip hurrah

2010-11-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

After 9 months of increasing pain I finally had hip replacement surgery October 13. I blamed the pain on a ligament and the Arimidex, my cancer drug. Finally with my GP leaving his practice I went to the orthopedic surgeon. Hip replacement. "NO NO not me, I'm a fitness freak this only happens to overweight people!!!!" I then tried cortisone injections so that I could go on my vacation: it was a pain filled trip. Returning from vacation I immediately set up the surgery.

All comfy and recovering at Syd Peterson.
My oncologist Rebecca Barrington stopped the Arimidex after 4 years and new information, a week before surgery. Wow! I am me again. Surgery went fine but the pain killing drug spun me into the world of hallucinations. Morphine ones were cute green, sparkly butterflies as well as smiling golden worms. The Hydrocodone were the sixties psychedelic scene and Tramadol was scary psychedelic backgrounds with leaping cats and dark shadows. So I dropped the pain killers and switched to Tylenol. The PT came, a delightful young positive, man called Russell. As a result i was able to walk with a cane at the end of the second week and improvement continues. Peterson Home care sent out aides to bathe me and nurses to check my progress. They were all very good and really helpful.

For a small town Kerrville has a lovely hospital with fabulous nurses, aides and doctors. Dr Robert Mitchell, my surgeon has great passion for his work and is honest and cautious. A perfectionist where you need one. He too inspire confidence. After all, his work on my carpal tunnel went great and that hand functions perfectly. It turns out that during surgery he found a fracture in the femur, that was not on the x-rays so I am now wired up around the new joint.

Home and receiving loving care from Chris.

My progress continues and hopefully by thanksgiving I will be able to walk up the viewing stand at the state park in Mission and see the elusive green jay.

Swaps

2010-10-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

I am in an inspiration card swap with the Sketchbook Project, a Yahoo group and due to some challenges in my life fell behind.
here are some of my contributions. A list of "prompts" was used as inspiration. This is not my kind of inspiration as I am more visual than verbal when it come to inspiration. They are all about 4X 6inches (everything is "about" when one is measurement challenged). They were all put in envelopes not just mailed. Most of mine are sent in clear envelopes, many of the folks i swapped with made envelopes out of calendar pages, catalogs and newspapers. Very interesting.

The prompt for this is "a rare pair of shoes both stylish and comfortable". I chose this as I liked the idea of doing shoes. I made computer cards for the other side. They have addresses on them and decided it's not good to publish addresses for strangers to see.

These are called "music that makes you move your body". I just love Zumba, well the sort modified for us old girls and it was what ultimately led to my hip problem. For nine months I thought it was a pulled ligament! Zumba music is a compilation of salsa, mambo, tango and hip hop. That is the goal after surgery to get back to ZUMBA!

"surprising yourself with spontaneous wildness" quilted velvet background, silver body part charms, button head, leaves flowers, vintage trim.

No prompt needed for this one. I was inspired by a swap Lorena created for "My Imaginary Vacation." She just wanted chocolates and Johnny Depp. So I made her more chocolates. (I have no idea why the fonts changed size a blogger mystery). It is a pop up box based on a design by a Japanese paper artist for Canon photos. it folds down into a card.

Homeward bound

2010-09-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

We left Chicago and headed south through Illinois and into Missouri spending the night in Cuba, MO at the Candy Cane RV. We had managed to avoid the Labor Day crush as we left in the morning. The other side of St Louis the traffic was very heavy and we saw three accident. We found this RV camp way back of the road. Just perfect for an overnight stay. Soon the clouds rolled in it was the outer band of a hurricane that slipped into Texas moving northeast from the pacific.

we visited Ruth and Ron in Carthage MO. It always rains when we visit them, it was on and off alday and poured all night.

I do miss Ruth and wish it was not so far away.

Chicago 2

2010-09-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

Chris walked along the river and around the lake just about every morning.

Chicago is full of fountains small and large.

This is the water district display.

This is the cancer survivors garden. it is very close to John and Liz's apartment.

CHICAGO A GREAT CITY

2010-09-27T12:04:00.000-05:00

Chicago s now my favorite city. It brims over with energy and excitement. The diversified population puts a sparkle into everything. The neighborhoods, the food, music, art, lifestyle. Our visit was enhanced by our friends and the weather, sunny all the time. Our friends live overlooking the lake, Grant park and the Museum of Science and Industry. It is easy to go anywhere and find incredible food.

Chris and I attended the Jazz Festival a three day free event in the park.

The farmers markets are all over the city. They are very Yuppy events but the fresh produce and bread is wonderful especially in early September.

Chicagoland

2010-09-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Chris found that there were car races at Chicagoland the weekend before we were to come north to Chicago to visit our friends John and Liz. Since this is not an RV friendly state we had to find somewhere to leave the RV and Tow. Chris found this great place to stay that did not take reservations that is because it is up for sale. Parking is free round the speedway, designed for tailgating and it was close to the RV Park. We headed out to the pre-race show on Thursday afternoon.

Chris in the race simulator.

Nice bar at the track. Well this is Chicago and they have a civilized attitude to drinking.

From inside the track. it was so hot

N. Carolina

2010-09-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

From Bristol we set off in pouring rain for Biltmore. It was a beautiful ride, this is such a beautiful part of the country. The RV park in Asheville was one of the most difficult to find as to get in as was off the interstate exit. So after several turns around the freeway system and some great u-turns by Chris we arrived. Finding the farmers market although less than a mile away was also a night mare. At least by then we were minus the RV. This is me in Asheville. This part of the country reminds me of the north of england as it was an industrial town and they made and use red bricks for buildings and side walks. They had tarted up the city centers and I had a fabulous espresso at a coffee shop on the main drag.

We visited Biltmore and I enjoyed it as they had made it a lived in home not just a vast estate. Since I am not in love with all things vintage I found the house interior ugly although better than Hurst castle They at least treated their servants well. I loved the grounds and this fountain.

It was my birthday so we ate at the grill, very good food. Their wine is OK. It would be so pleasant to visit the grounds but the cost to visit this estate is $75 a person not encouraging to a tourist. They do offer a deal that is great for locals.

From Asheville we headed to Maggee Valley and the Blue Ridge trail. We visited the museum and village at Cherokee. It was the best Indian reservation we have ever visited. It was clean an tidy. They we just building a huge casino. never fails to blow my mind away that despite the recession the parking lots at casinos all over the country are full.

This is along the Blue Ridge Trail. It was fabulous until the motor cycles rolled in and drowned out the bird songs. Always want to come and amble along the trail it is just so beautiful.

NC is a state friendly to RV travelers so there are many RV parks. We like to be away from the road and not slide to slide with other coaches. We stayed at Trails End, Waynesville/Maggee Valley, for two night. It is on the Passport America list so they have special rates for one to two nights. We hate to pay for amenities we never use. Some RV sites are ridiculous. Especially once they use the word resort in their title!

From this lovely spot we headed north through TN, KY to Indianapolis.

Bristol MSW

2010-09-24T14:03:00.000-05:00

Bristol MSW is billed as the "Fastest half-mile in the world" Looking down from the Stadium is like looking down onto a toy track as we were able to see the whole track. The lead cars catch up with the slow ones. It holds 160,000 people. This is the first year they were not sold out in their 30 year history. Our seats were opposite the pits were you can see them change tires and fill up cars a a great speed.

Looking down for our seats at the truck race. The pole winner was sent to the back of the line up because his crew altered the car after the qualifying race. The driver is Kyle Busch, the crowd always boos him. Chris said watch him, by lap 20 he will be up front and he was. Then he went on to win the next 2 races and has continued since then. They really boo him because he drives a Toyota and worked his way up through childhood without benefit of rich relative who owns a team. I decided he is the man to follow. it has been fun as he goes on winning. The overall NASCAR winner will be Jeff Gordon, can't stand him and he has not won a race all season, just winning on points. it's like awarding a job to the person in the company the longest, even if their performance is not stellar. Another male invention. Oh kyle Busch's sponsor, well one of them is M&Ms. So I am now back to buying them especially as they have a dark chocolate variety. They go well with JD

For the days of races the area round the stadium is full of activities by the sponsors. Regretfully, I only found Jack Daniels open one time and they only sold their whiskey by the shot. ( It beats NSIADs for hip pain). They had sold out of barbecue chips made from their barrels. Now doesn't that sound like a culinary delight for grilling.

So here we are before the final race.

This was on of the many attractions in the Speed TV tent . By signing up for their email you could have this photo taken. There were many other sponsor tents. I was excited to find Crayola was a major sponsor, regretfully they were only open just before the race started and a couple of other times. They must be a reluctant sponsor. They gave you a sheet on shiny card stock on which to write a slogan and hold up at the race. They were so inept and the guy gave me only one crayon plus it was in full sun, no shade covers. I plan to use the card-stock to try out some techniques and my SHARPIE poster pens.

Day 3 Lord willing and the crick don't rise

2010-09-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Bristol TN about noon. It was raining. In fact it was pouring and the camp site was on the between a creek and a small stream. hence the title. Overnight the "crick" held, the following night it filled flooded thee tent campers fled to higher ground; as soon as it went down every tenter returned.

The road to Bristol TN

2010-09-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

I intended to start my blog of the trip when i arrived home alas my plans were thwarted by a broken AC and it was a week before the fan replacement was installed and it cool enough to sit at the computer.
Day 1 was a drive east to Clinton AK in 104F weather. We stayed in the County Fairground, the scene of the aftermath of a 3 day watermelon festival.

Day 2 was cooler and we arrived in Tarbark RV park in the TN hills. It appeared miles from anywhere and just gorgeous country. Emma, who manages the park had designed and set up a network, here I intended to start my blog!!!! Instead i emptied boiling fat over my left hand. Emma and Nathan told us of an emergency room at the next exit and just to the right on the highway past Walgrens. The next exit, Dickson, was 10 miles away and we finally arrived at the Horizon Medical Center with my left paw in a jug of cold water. Immediate, efficient and friendly care followed. Dr. Fatsea, a transplant from Boston, fixed me up and a few hours later, no pain and my paw healed exactly as he and the nurse predicted. The medical Center was all computerized.

Tarbark RV park high in the TN hills. Very friendly and the park is a perfect over night stop.

FIXED!!!!

Breast Cancer is not easy

2010-08-12T18:43:00.003-05:00

When i was diagnosed with breast cancer the second time one of the labels was estrogen positive. i was told this the first time but in 1997 it was not fully understood. So I refused tamoxifen as the % were not worth taking a drug for 5 years when there was really no reason to believe cancer would return. HOW NAIVE!! After all a lumpectomy and radiations was sure to fix this tiny ominous presence.

For the past the past 3 years and nine months I have taken a cancer drug, Arimidex ,that prevents estrogen from entering cells in my body. It is to prevent my breast cancer cells from feeding. Their feast of choice is estrogen. The result is that some of the benefits of estrogen are prevented from action. estrogen is a natural hormone that in women produces many beneficial actions beyond it's sexual function. As women age it begins to reduce this is menopause. Some women slit into this life stage without trauma. Many do not. Over time its lack is responsible for aging effect seen in women. What i am on about is that for we who take Arimidex often suffer some pretty nasty effects. For me it has been 3 years and 9 months of gradually increasing hell. Bone and joint pains followed leg cramps and so on. I made this little page for my techniques fiber art book after a particularly bad week. It sort of helped. The figure is shrink stuff. i drew and cut out then heated it and it shrank to this size. The background is painted batting.

Trees gone wild & wackey

2010-08-06T17:34:00.001-05:00

I am so impressed with myself i finally found how to edit images on Picasa and then blog it. I am trying to switch from PSP13. This masterpiece or should it be mistress piece has a fabric paper background using colored tissue paper. The dye tends to run onto the fabric. I then added my trees gone wild. This is for the techniques book that Deane and I work on once a month; that is the plan but we frequently are diverted. Last month we made batik. I threw mine away and will never do that again. I think Deane said it was the wrong kind of wax.

Sheep

2010-08-04T17:45:00.000-05:00

Deanie and I try to meet once a month for an art day. We started to work through an embellishment book. We are frequently side tracked. As a weaver Deanie love sheep and makes wonderful creations with her version of them. So when in Santa Fe Chris and I attended an Art fair called Dances with Wools. I loved their poster and recreated it, well not quite. Here it is. She will only see it in September. It is a surprise.

I like it. The piece of weaving at their feet is a scrap from some of Deanies weaving. the backgrounds paper fabric,stamped painted and the quilt above their heads is a photo I changed up.

Wabi Sabi RR Sketch Book Project

2010-07-22T14:17:00.001-05:00

The theme chosen by Bea for her book is Wabi-Sabi and she gave no clues to how she interpreted it. Wabi Sabi is not a term many of us our familiar with so off I go, Googling. Is it a Japanese restaurant? Globally, it appears to be a popular name for chic restaurants though one in Australia was my favorite especially these posters from their bathroom.

Google has all kinds of entries beyond the restaurants for using or abusing this name. How did we manage without Google? I also found a store, in Taos NM, sportting the name and selling things Japanese. This is how I look after hours of tramping around Taos when the temperature is in the high nineties.

The popular esoteric description of the term "wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and understanding nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered-and it reveres authenticity above all. This is the description favored by contemporary tea ceremony adherents and Buddhists. It has been totally abused or as someone noted turned into sloppy art.

In my search I found the writings of Tim Wong, a photographer and Santa Fe gallery owner. Wabi Sabi - Learning to See the Invisible Tim Wong, Ph.D. & Akiko Hirano, Ph.D. http://www.touchingstone.com/Wabi_Sabi.html He describes a profoundly inspiring and expressive aesthetic, one I could bond with and accept from cultures were the art of writing, painting were venerated. I wanted to make this my pages for Bea's RR.

All this deep philosophical, searching for the meaning of life is the antithisis of me Monica. Whimsy and the celebration of life is more my "modus operandi" and I have to really try to be serious.

Since Wong described wabi sabi in terms of Chinese and Japanese language & culture I used Chinese brocade silk to cover the page, leaving the edges raw then I inserted the black smaller pages. (The bits sticking up are from other entries. It is much harder to add when the pages are already sewn together into a signature. I thought of several different approaches but they would have added bulk and distorted the previous entries. I settled for a raw, simple look, no padding, no backing, quite a stretch for me.)

I printed the photo and the poem on silk and glued them in.

The final entry. The last page is covered with Japanese hand painted silk, from a kimono. If you go to the Tim Wong page be sure to visit the pages displaying Wong Nong Sumi-e Show. the show ran June through July. Wong's story and his art is awesome.

New Mexico Travel Journal 2010

2010-07-19T17:05:00.001-05:00

Santa Fe is my favorite US city to visit, round that off with a trip to Taos and I am in heaven. Bliss. Despite several visits i have never made a journal Usually my journals are created by gluing all the collected torn out images from free travel guides and assorted finds accumulated throughout the trip as well as a few photos to card stock loose pages. Then a cover is made from covering book board or Peltex. This trip I folded card stock in half, each was then a sort of signature. It makes a slightly different book. This time I made the cover from paper cloth after a visit to Freida Oxenham's blog (http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/)

This is the cover made of paper cloth.

Cover is fabric from my stash. and first page is glued maps and photo from travel brochure. It really is how I see the road from the RV (when not beading!)

I painted the background on watercolor paper and added the images of sculptures found in Santa Fe. I can always imagine early settlers walking across this vast space that i move so rapidly with my traveling home around me. It is an endless stretch of shrub and rocks so hard to remember that for centuries travelers walked, no one settled for long as the elements never ease up.

Sumner Lake, a reservoire is now i recreation area. HOT! DRY! On to Santa Fe founded 400 years ago my settlers who walked there.

My favorite farmers market. It is now tarted up and very elegant in the rail road terminal area. It is now surrounded by trendy art galleries and stores. We had breakfast there, yummy pastries and returned with produce to drool over.

Santa Fe is a foodies paradise, a mecca for eating and drinking. the cuisine page is torn from travel guides. i plan to experiment with some of the fabric paper techniques next time.

It was the weekend of a fiber arts show at El Rancho De Las Golondinas I saved all the information i collected within this hand dyed wool.

Other ways to hold information and this is the art information I collected.

Canyon Road art information. I also collect business cards so i can return. beadwork was a fantastic bead and gift shop. Norma Sharon made wearable art.

Off to Taos, weaving art, more art and food.

Ok that's not Chris playing golf he dropped me at Ledoux Street. Then off to a few of my favorite places. If you look very closely at the photo of me (well not at me0 the sign above was a reminder of my coming Sketchbook RR project Wabi Sabi.

A silk scrap makes a super pocket to hold more gathered information. Not sure where this fabric came from, the date on it is 1993!
Each of the folded card stock 'signatures" was sewn into the cover. This is a harder way to make a journal. Rings make it so much easier to add stuff to pages and even to add pages.

I am now fired up for our next trip and my journal.

Fiber paper

2010-07-19T13:11:00.000-05:00

For a long time i have dabbled with making fiber paper and was never pleased with the results. Visiting Frieda Oxenham's blog I saw she made fiber paper for many of her projects and reading back through her blogs saw she used a slightly different technique. I thought the difference was she used watered down white glue rather than a Gel Medium. So i tried it

i stamped a piece of muslin soaked it with the water glue mix then added torn pieces of New Mexico , covered it with torn lime white tissue and torn napkin. then splashed some fabric paint around as I have lots of the translucent variety. Since the temperature was around 95 outside and 80 in my fingers were drying and pulling up the tissue. No time to ponder just get it done. Unlike Frieda's, she lives in cold Scotland, it was dry in 40 minutes and really dry after 20 minutes in the sun. The photo is after it dried and I had stitched Peltex on the back.

Here is the second one. Rather than stamping the muslin I stenciled it. This time i used lime green tissue paper that I had written on words before tearing. I like white tissue better. This is a technique i intend to explore.

Now have to get my battle gear on and put the cats into their boxes to go to the vet. next post will show what i made.

Bracelet in yellow

2010-07-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

This is another Kate Mckinnon art cuff. I added the vintage Bakelite buttons as I had no sequins I liked. There is no way the bracelet will twist upside down as it is a tight fit.

Santa Fe & Taos trip

2010-07-02T17:42:00.001-05:00

We left mid June for a week in New Mexico stopping en route at Sumner Lake

It is really a reservoir and the water was much higher than on our last trip. It is eastern NM where a high winds whip across the plateau and little but scrub grows. It defies the imagination to think that the early inhabitants had to walk here. The note on the ranger office said that this area was always tough and ancient people never stayed very long.

This is the farmers market in Santa Fe on the railroad tracks. They have renovated it. It remains a great farmers market despite this though it seemed far more restrained than in the past where women were singing and dancing everywhere.

On Saturdays they hold an artists' fair at the market in an area designed just for them. I liked the landscape and the whole concept as it was very contemporary and few places can pull contemporary off. Off course this is railroad property and they have deep pockets.

Our first stop in Santa Fe after setting up the RV was the bar at Ortiz on the plaza for a margarita then off to eat in Burros Alley at the Paris Bakery. The wine, heat and altitude combined after this to wipe me out. We attended an Art To Wear show at El Rancho De Las Golondrinas a living ranch set up like it was 400 years ago. The docents were quite incredible. I loved the Colcha embroideries and the way they displayed the weavings. Regrettably we forgot the camera. On Saturday night we wined and dined at Amavi, haute cuisine gets no better. Women chef and a woman pastry chef. All the food is fresh and local, even the cheese plate.

Two days later we headed to Taos. At 8,000 ft is was cool at night and 95 in the day, unusual but it was a nationwide heatwave. Together Chris and I visited the Blumenstein home and museum. He and a mate were the artists that turned this place into an art colony in the 1900s. Like Santa Fe, it is probably too expensive for most artists today as it is a very chi chi place. Chris golfed in the morning leaving me free to explore the boutiques and galleries. This included a trip to Artemesia, a favorite art to wear shop, Uncommon Threads where they sell exquisite fabrics at a good price and a card shop that has The best cards. In all of these shops the staff where charming and genuinely FRIENDLY just as they were in Santa Fe.

The Blumenstein home. The daughter put most of this together before she died. She was an amazing woman. I thought her mother a far superior painter than the father.

The Indian Market in Santa Fe where we returned to celebrate Chris's birthday.

We decided to have lunch at the Coyote Cafe tavern. The food was incredible and the accolades are well deserved. I have never tasted such wonderful SW cuisine before. I also found at 137 Water St another wonderful Art to Wear shop, just opposite the Cafe. The python jackets were to die for, unfortunately not in my budget. It was called Norma Sharon. And I did find Beadweaver at 503 Old Santa Fe trail. They sold extraordinary beads and beadwork. Again the women in the store were so kind and helpful. Wish they were here in Kerrville!!!

I managed to return home with a sinus infection. And the computer began to have problems turned out to be line problems, fixed with a new wire and a man up the pole.