Art in Action

So true…...

"When I don't have art in my life, it feels like misplaced energy."
~ Gwyneth Leech

Summer

No Worries! 

Is that possible? Well, I'd like to think so.

When I think of Summer, I think……

watermelon

swimming

lemonade

water balloons

flowers

neon colors

kids

ice cream

fireflies

sunsets

salads of every kind

What does Summer represent for you?

And……

If you are like me, and you don't have an area for a home garden, consider supporting your local CSA. They are a wonderful concept.

My first pickup of the season. Yummy!!

Happy Summer!

Weaving

Learning to Weave on a loom.

Securing the threads to the loom.

Testing

Just like other handwork, it's the meditative rhythm that I enjoy about weaving.

Watching the threads come alive into cloth makes me happy.

Adding To The Story

This is the fun part!

Bits and pieces coming together to tell a story.

Stitched Memories

This piece warms my heart.

It represents…….

new travels

 the new feeling of stitching on wool

evening chats on the balcony

 afternoon tea

 sewing circle of like minded souls

 eco dying techniques shared by the lovely India Flint 

To Dye Naturally

For 5 wonderful days, I was inspired by India Flint on the process of using natural plant materials to dye cloth and paper.

Each day, we would wonder the grounds for fallen plant material. Then, fold them in between fabric or paper pieces held tightly together by string. The bundles would sit in a dye pot overnight. In the morning, we laid the bundles out with anticipation of what took place during the night.

Each bundle holds a different surprise, and every time someone in the class opened up a bundle all you could hear was "oooo, awww, oh my gosh."

These are a few of the magical surprises found.

The class quilt, hand sewn into blocks of natural wonder.

Nature and Cloth

This years art getaway takes me to Osoyoos, Canada. It is a privilege to be learning from India Flint along with 11 other fiber artists. 

This is my classroom.

Just being surrounded by these beautiful mountains and like minded souls is fulfilling.

More Documented Life Challenges

Creating with paper, paint and found objects is a lot of fun. Given a challenge every week is even funner. Here are a couple more of my documented life challenge pages from my planner.

- Add a cardboard food box in a creative way. -
I used acrylic paint and a napkin for the background, acrylic painted textbook paper for the flowers and petals, and of course, a sorbet container (which is very delicious).

- Draw or photograph your favorite pair of shoes. -

I did both because my drawing skills are not that good,  yet.

The background page is painted with acrylics, and my drawing was done with colored pencils

IF WE COULD SEE INSIDE OTHER PEOPLE'S HEARTS

From Cheryl Richardson's newsletter. 

Cheryl always includes a video along with her wisdom and tips.

This is powerful!

Thank you, Cheryl, for sharing this as a reminder that we all have a story.

Happy Easter

This year we ended up with brown eggs from the farm. My girls were not very happy when they sat down to color eggs and saw they were brown.

After a little whining, they decided to make the best of it and challenged their creativity.

I think they turned out pretty cool.

Hope you had a blessed day.

A Documented Life

I can't believe I haven't mentioned my latest obsession……
In early March, I stumbled upon an art journaling challenge called A Documented Life. It was exactly what I needed because it incorporates art journaling with a daily planner. I have always journaled in one form or another, and this group has encouraged me to journal more often. Each week there is an art journaling challenge.

Here is my planner.

A little too much green, so I toned it down….

by adding more purple.

Here are a few challenge pages from past weeks.

Draw your front door.

Selfie

collage

Add a bird.

Have someone draw on your page, and you finish it.

Monochromatic

Baby Pictures

I have one more idea to share with my students on how they can use photographs to personalize their journals. You can see the other class samples here.

When I was looking through my photo albums, the baby pictures kept standing out, so Babies became the theme. 

Babies everywhere!

I used my parent's baby picture along with me and my husband and our 5 children. I made black and white copies to help blend and soften the cover.

With a splash of love (little red hearts).

Prayer Flags

This piece was once part of a quilt I started for my daughter, but after a while, it didn't seem to flow the way I had hoped. It soon became one of those UFOs (unfinished objects). After months of shifting it from one pile to another, it is time to scrap it.  

This section makes a nice prayer flag.

My small collection on the back patio.

Stitches Of Another Kind

I've enjoyed making my own hand bound journals for several years now. There is so much you can do to personalize a journal.

I'm getting ready to teach the high schoolers from my homeschool group how to make a journal. I'm trying to keep it simple while still pushing their creativity.

Here is sample #1

From a collage I put together using magazine clippings. 

To a journal cover.

I left the cover blank for now, but I can see adding a quote someday.

Sample #2

Here, I used a map, a train ticket stub, a tag, magazine clippings, and ink to make it look old.

Learning To Weave Yarn

Six weeks ago, I signed up for my first weaving class, and I am loving it.

This is the sampler I'm making.

Natalie said "pick colors that make you happy today."

Each week I keep learning new techniques.

Love this magenta! Makes me very happy.

At the end.

 Time to take it off the loom. 

Yes, I'm Still Here

My focus these last few months has been all about food. What to eat. What's the best way to cook it, and learning to like it!

Ever since I was diagnosed with this awful gluten thing, adapting to a new eating lifestyle has been my focus. Not like I need to eat so I don't starve, but like I need to figure out what I can eat without sending my body into a tail spin.

It turns out my body is rejecting a lot of different foods, so I mainly eat a Paleo Diet. It requires a different mindset, and if you are not used to eating a lot of vegetables, it's quite challenging. 

Here are just a few things that I have managed to add back into my diet, which makes me very happy.

Coffee! 

I couldn't figure out why I was having major flare ups (my immune system thinking I was eating gluten) after a cup of coffee. Come to find out……

Not all coffee is created equal. It's all in the processing, and you can read more about it here. 

Chocolate!

It seems that if you are sensitive to gluten, good chance you're sensitive to dairy, so I had to give up chocolate. My initial thought was………Shoot me now!

Good News…….I have tried many recipes, and now I'm making my own chocolate candy.

The paleo diet doesn't really focus on sweets, but I've still got a sweet tooth I need to tend to.

My latest obsession………dehydrating. Still learning this one!

If you've come back to visit my blog, thank you for sticking with me :-)

A Little Knitting

One of my favorite ways to relax in the evenings is to listen to podcasts while I stitch. Next to my stitching chair is a big wooden bowl that is a catch all for small projects.

I don't consider myself a good knitter, but I do enjoy working on small items like scarves and washcloths. 

Wintery

Have you ever seen one of those Sunsets while you're driving, and you just have to pull off the road to stare at it or take a picture?

Yeah, you know what I'm talkin about.

Rag Rug

Changing things up a bit, so I started working on this rag rug again. It's referred to as a toothbrush rug because of the type of needle used to stitch with. The needle was made by cutting off the brush section of a toothbrush.

I'm trying to use up some fabrics that are not worthy of using for quilts. I'll show more detail in the next couple of days.

Happy New Year!

We have been getting a lot of snow here in the Midwest, and the temperature has been extremely cold. Hope your New Year is off to a good start.

Maggie loves playing and digging in the snow.