Warm Saturday Greetings!

Today began with a cloudy, overcast day, cool, and a little windy. Did not take long for the clouds to blow away or dissipate, and the sun was shining for the better part of the day. A welcomed relief from the 85-90 degree weather of the last few days! I don't do hot weather at all easily, am allergic to so many of the outdoor odors (others call these smells aromas, to me they stink!) that I spend most of my time indoors, and that's ok, I do a lot of creative work during those times that I cannot be outside.

I joined another postcard trade on the Fiber Art Traders yahoo group. This one is titled "Fabulous Felines" and is anything to do with cats...house pets, zoo animal cats of the more ferocious type, and I have come up with a few designs that are a little over the top for me, but still shout out who made them!

My first one out of the shoot was very aptly titled Abstract Cat, and while I did not digitize this one, I did do the lettering for it. If you have been following my blog, you probably have noted that I do not do a lot of art that is hard to discern what it is...but this one, is titled on the picture side of the card, so should not have too many questions about it.... I got lucky and found some abstract type fabric to embroider it upon, and although it is a simple design I believe between the fabric, the style of lettering and the cat itself, I have finally achieved something in the mode of modernish type art!

The second card I created today is another off the wall type cat...this one is named Aristocat, and did not think much about the name at the time, but have been reminded that there was a Disney movie by the same name, although I believe it was actually called The Aristocats... Given the name of the card, I determined that I would do it up as richly as possible, and used a royal purple for the background. I feared the black cat may not show up well, but gave it a go any way.

I have 7 more cards to complete prior to trading the cards and they will be interesting, although not in this same vein. Both of these cards do have a spin to them toward the modern art, the rest really do look like cats!

Well, that's all for today folks,

Hugs Y'all!

Mondays are for Challenges! It's true, you know...Mondays are for challenges, whether it be just piling out of bed and facing the work week, tending to matters around the home, or sometimes, just getting out of the bed! However, my challenge this week was a fun, exciting and creative one. On the Fiber Art Traders group our list mom posed a challenge to us...we were to create and post a mailable fiber postcard...and the challenging part was to get it accomplished within a 2 hour time frame and posted to our group list. I totally amazed myself, and probably others also, as I created this card in just 32 minutes, from the time I read the instructions and theme till posting on the internet! Our theme for this challenge was "Time is of the Essence", the winner takes all of the cards submitted for the challenge. An amazing assortment of cards were feverishly assembled to follow that theme...and believe me, machines were a-humming during the construction of these gems! No, I did not win, but a member from The Netherlands did, and I say CONGRATULATIONS TO TONNY! She is fairly new to our group as I recall, and did a wonderful card depicting the time we lose as we get older and begin to become forgetful, and of course, wondering where the time went!My own card is entitled 'Timeless Beauty", and depicts an ocean sunset, with waves crashing on the rocks at the base of a fantastic lighthouse. The design was created by D. Morgan and is copyrighted. The artist allowed a fabric company to create yardage using her paintings of coastal scenes. Most of you know how much I love lighthouses, amongst other collectibles and this particular scene just grabbed me when I was looking through the fabrics I had pulled for this challenge. Thanks so much NJ for choosing to challenge our creative forces to the forefront. I never gave the amount of time that goes into creating a postcard much thought, and totally amazed myself by my ability to come up with a wonderful card.Over the weekend I also began a new quilt, a Block of the Month, commonly called BOM's by quilters. Each month a new design is sent to us and we are to prepare it for quilting at the year's end. I am about 3 months behind, what with other commitments, however did chance to read the monthly newsletter this month and discovered that there is a contest in the creation of these blocks. The title of the quilt is 'Blooms n Buttons, and Butterflies too'. I do not have the buttons that were suggested to be used, but did happen to pick up a few fancy buttons made of abalone shells and coated with irridescent colors that I have never seen in a real abalone shell over the past month. So I pulled out some gold colored ones and used in the center of the bloom, colorwise an appropriate place to attach them. As my embroidery machine is in the shop at the present time, again, twice in a week's time, I attempted to put my butterflies down with the 'old fashioned' way of doing embroidery! One is rather small, a black bodied, pink winged critter. The other done in yellows and gold with a russet colored body and antennae.Well that is it for today...at this point in the day at any rate. This afternoon I will be picking up my embroidery machine and we will see if it performs as advertised!Hugs, y'all!

It's true, you know...Mondays are for challenges, whether it be just piling out of bed and facing the work week, tending to matters around the home, or sometimes, just getting out of the bed! However, my challenge this week was a fun, exciting and creative one. On the Fiber Art Traders group our list mom posed a challenge to us...we were to create and post a mailable fiber postcard...and the challenging part was to get it accomplished within a 2 hour time frame and posted to our group list. I totally amazed myself, and probably others also, as I created this card in just 32 minutes, from the time I read the instructions and theme till posting on the internet! Our theme for this challenge was "Time is of the Essence", the winner takes all of the cards submitted for the challenge. An amazing assortment of cards were feverishly assembled to follow that theme...and believe me, machines were a-humming during the construction of these gems! No, I did not win, but a member from The Netherlands did, and I say CONGRATULATIONS TO TONNY! She is fairly new to our group as I recall, and did a wonderful card depicting the time we lose as we get older and begin to become forgetful, and of course, wondering where the time went!

My own card is entitled 'Timeless Beauty", and depicts an ocean sunset, with waves crashing on the rocks at the base of a fantastic lighthouse. The design was created by D. Morgan and is copyrighted. The artist allowed a fabric company to create yardage using her paintings of coastal scenes. Most of you know how much I love lighthouses, amongst other collectibles and this particular scene just grabbed me when I was looking through the fabrics I had pulled for this challenge. Thanks so much NJ for choosing to challenge our creative forces to the forefront. I never gave the amount of time that goes into creating a postcard much thought, and totally amazed myself by my ability to come up with a wonderful card.

Over the weekend I also began a new quilt, a Block of the Month, commonly called BOM's by quilters. Each month a new design is sent to us and we are to prepare it for quilting at the year's end. I am about 3 months behind, what with other commitments, however did chance to read the monthly newsletter this month and discovered that there is a contest in the creation of these blocks. The title of the quilt is 'Blooms n Buttons, and Butterflies too'. I do not have the buttons that were suggested to be used, but did happen to pick up a few fancy buttons made of abalone shells and coated with irridescent colors that I have never seen in a real abalone shell over the past month. So I pulled out some gold colored ones and used in the center of the bloom, colorwise an appropriate place to attach them. As my embroidery machine is in the shop at the present time, again, twice in a week's time, I attempted to put my butterflies down with the 'old fashioned' way of doing embroidery! One is rather small, a black bodied, pink winged critter. The other done in yellows and gold with a russet colored body and antennae.

Well that is it for today...at this point in the day at any rate. This afternoon I will be picking up my embroidery machine and we will see if it performs as advertised!

Hugs, y'all!

I'm a Goddess Girl x 5!!!

So what? you say...well at the Fairie Goddess Mothers Yahoo Group, that means that I have completed the monthly challenge for the fifth time! I have made my May Goddess and it is only the 3rd of the month...well, technically the 4th, as it is after midnight, but to me still the 3rd...won't be the 4th till I have slept! Always seems to be a race to see whom will finish the first one of the month...perhaps I will be first this month...been awhile since I was first on this particular task. The Fairie Goddess block is a challenge that is issued monthly by List Mom, Linda Poole, who has designed the pattern for this little beauty, and in my estimation is one terrific artist, amongst other things!
This fairie is the Goddess of Self-Confidence, Style, Grace and Self-Assurance. I thought that mine needed a lot of self-confidence to show herself this month...she is decked out in violet, both for body and wings, and I would think that any self respecting fairie who ventured outdoors in violet would have to be very self-confident! Imagine dancing among the violets (which by the way are in bloom here in the Pacific Northwest) and someone comes along to pick a bouquet, if you were this fairie, you would certainly have to be quick to avoid being plucked from the ground and included in that bouquet! If you have been following these quilt blocks each month, you will notice that each heart held high above her head is a different color. I decided that the heart would be a great place to use the color of the birthstone for that month...May's birthstone is the Emerald...a beautiful gem in my opinion. After I get all the blocks finished and the quilt made, I plan to purchase CZ gems with flat backs to put in each of the hearts as an embellishment. I will also include machine embroidered flowers in each block, the flower for May is the lily of the valley, and I love that flower.

Well that's it for tonight, tomorrow I will begin thread painting the shower curtain again. Got more colors of thread in my stash now and should be able to do a bit of stitchery on it to spark it up a bit.

Hugs, y'all...remember, I'm a Goddess Girl x5 now!!!

Goodness, It is May Already!!!

May already! Wow, what happened to April, I was just going good on it too!

One of the challenges (from list mom Linda Poole on the Fairie Goddess Mothers Yahoo group) I accomplished already this month was to create a quilted journal page. These are small mini-quilts, just measuring the size of a piece of paper, 8.5" x 11", well mine is 10"x12", but no quilt or journal police live here! I even went so far as to add a poem to it, and although I am not the type to normally write poetry, this little ditty came to mind, so will include it for you to read as well...



Sunshine

Come dance with me amongst the daffodils~
And we will sing praises to the distant hills
Whilst the sun peeks out up above
'Tween puffy clouds for a day we all love!

Between Linda and the FGM group, and Normajean on the Fiber Art Traders group, I am learning more through their monthly challenges than I ever thought could be possible at my age! I love creating the smaller items, never was much of a 'small' quilt person, generally made only bed sized quilts, but thanks to Linda I have learned that the creativity does flow nicely on a wall hanging, or even quicker with the journal sized 'quiltlets', as she calls them. As for the postcards and other altered art work, I am certain that I found my calling...for they are a joy to create, and even more fun to share with others (receiving mail from my cyber friends is a joy that is beyond compare). Those who have known me long know that I have had a hard time justifying my love of creating, given the ridicule I was handed when growing up over my wastefulness when I would create something in the art line. If it couldn't be eaten, or worn, or slept under, it just was not worth the time to do it. I am so happy that I have found many cyber friends who think differently about my creations and have begun to get an ego that is larger than it should be! Yes, I keep feeding that ego, when it is larger than my hat size I may slow down....but don't take that as being gospel!




MISHAP WITH MY NEW TOY...

I recently purchased a gently used Brother ULT 2003 sewing/embroidery machine. I have not used it for sewing yet, mainly purchased it for the larger embroidery field as I seem to be digitizing more and more designs that are in a larger format. I was busy test sewing my newest creation and had stitched out 3 of the 10 colors necessary to create the design. As I was attempting to thread the needle with the 4th color the unthinkable happened to the machine, the knob I was pressing to bring the needle threader down to the needle fell off! Immediately I hear the sound of metal dropping and hitting something inside the machine head. When I peered down to see if I could tell what it was, I noticed a part of the machine sitting there, so being the A personality I am, I determined that I could remove the cover and put it back to wherever it came from, and at the same time reattach the threader knob...it just was not to be, for when I opened the cover, I saw not one part, but two laying in there. I gathered them up along with a rubber washer type thing and put them into a zip lock baggie, and took that machine down to the dealer for repair...I am not concerned about the cost of repairs, the machine has only been in my house for 6 weeks and I have a maintenance agreement on it...I do, however, take offense at the fact that it will be hospitalized for a whole week, 7 days without it stitching along and me smiling at what it is turning out!

There is only one good thing about this happening, and that is that I must now occupy my time with other projects, which have been lacking the attention due them. I began the Sunshine Journal Quilt just yesterday and finished it with some handwork this morning. I still have the May Fairie Goddess to create, and will begin that tonight, hopefully will have it completed tomorrow, and can give my much neglected shower curtain another coat of thread painting to enhance another area of it. I am a fairly new person to the technique of thread painting and have yet to really feel comfortable with it, and I know I must be comfortable in doing it before the work will fly...I do seem to be taking out or un-stitching, less of what I stitch, so I may be gathering the needed confidence to really put the pedal to the metal as they say. I have discovered that music helps me to obtain a rhythm to the stitching, so if any of you hear loud music, I may be the guilty party!


Enough for now...more creating is waiting in the wings, and I believe I am up to that personal challenge as well!

Hugs Y'all!