settlers peace

A Good Time Was Had

I've been home for over two weeks, and am still smiling. I have long admired the work of DJ Pettitt and was quick to sign up for a workshop that Cindy happened to discover. Oh my, the inspiration, creativity and laughter was at a level so far beyond what I had hoped for.

This is DJ Pettitt, myself, Cindy and Donna Downey

My book cover

Inside cover and a signature wrap

And a few pages

The whole gang, twenty three other amazing artists and women. So many stories shared, and you know how I love a good story.

And then an awesome story, after I returned home, my daughters boyfriend proposed at a Ranger's baseball game! So fun and exciting, and wedding plans are in full swing :)

Life is good!

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Keep Going

The clutter in my brain is clearing, unlike today's fog.

It made for a beautiful walk, so peaceful and with limited distractions. The birdsong sounded pure and delightful. But before my walk, my day started with this:

Years ago, I started writing 'morning pages' - three long hand written pages of brain dump first thing in the morning. It was introduced to me by Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. I've recently been going through another of her books, Walking In This World. I have a separate journal for the many lists that one must make, such wondrous things are recovered and discovered through this. It isn't very often that I ever go back and read my pages, but something has been off for me lately, and like a detective, I went searching. And there it was, in my own handwriting, the action that I needed to take: a walk, some time in prayer, and a more disciplined use of time. It's time for a Pinterest diet and some actual time behind the sewing machine. "I'm off to the sewing room" she says, with a smile on her face and peace in her heart!

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Words Worth

Years ago I made a giant Candy-gram for my Dad, incorporating all of the candy names into a story.  Here lately my  mind has been spinning with the many versions that could come out of my bag of selvedge edge strips that I've been collecting.  But I'm stingy and hate to use a whole lot of any one thing in a project.  So as my creative juices were going, I grabbed up some old cloth napkins, ripped them into smaller sizes and started making some collages.  Not much planning, but I had some definite people in mind as I made each one.

It was fun to see them develope, as different as the people they were made for.  I stitched each of them onto a cover of a journal filled with graph paper.

Which them became part of a drafting kit in a pencil pouch along with some mechanical colored pencils.  These were made for the retiring Board Members of our guild.  I will really miss working with each of them, but I look forward to the new board members that will be serving with me this next year.  I also made some little pouches for tiny embroidery scissors for those that had served as a Committee Chairperson.  Hopefully they will all be able to enjoy some time being creative.

I just love working on projects that are small enough to finish, with a deadline to make it happen.  

The Energy of Change

I have been so energized by some of the changes taking place in the house.  More and more projects and distractions, but very exciting.  In one of the big furniture moves, we had to unload all of our photos from the cabinet they were stored in.  Some in photo boxes, but many still in the packets from being developed!  Then add to the mix that neither of the girls have a baby book or scrapbook AND milestone birthdays THIS month, I hit panic mode.  

O. turned 18 last week and S. will be 16 this week.  So, in the midst of chaos, I've tackled a scrapbook of sorts for O.  And I do mean chaos.

As much as I'd like to think that it is about her, I think that it's turning out to be more of a love note to my daughter.  It's more my style than hers, but really, what can we possibly give them worth more than our hearts?  I'll let you know how it progresses.

Her birthday dessert was a real hit, we're still on a sugar high.

Butter Brickle Ice Cream Bars

2 1/2 Cups Crushed Rice Chex

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 butter, melted

1 cup pecans, broken into pieces

1 cup coconut

1/2 gallon Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Mix Chex, butter, brown sugar, pecans and coconut together in a 9 x 13 pan.  Toast in oven at 300* for 30 minutes.  Stir often to prevent burning.  After toasting, take out 1/3 crumbs and reserve.  Leave remaining crumbs in pan to cool.  Then spread 1/2 gallon softened ice cream on crumbs in pan, cover with remaining crumbs.  Freeze.  Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving.  Cut into bars and serve with caramel sauce.

Enjoy the days, the count down to a routine schedule that comes with school days is on!

Tangled Inspiration

This weekend I found my self in a Zentangle workshop.  For some reason this came so much easier that basic doodling.  I guess I'm a doodle flunky, I over think it too much.  This is my first attempt at home.

I'm pretty happy to have a use for this journal that I made back in 2003.   It has sat patiently awaiting inspiration to fill the pages, they are small, measuring 2 1/2" x 5 1/2", as size that is not too intimidating.

 

I am also feeling rather inspired by this assortment of journal and quilt goodness from Tuscan Rose.  I made a guess at identifying something on her blog and she awarded me a prize, how cool is that?  I am seriously loving the old quilt blocks and fabric scraps, metal bookplates, and the tags are yummy, yummy colors and prints!  Oh, just what to create????

 Hope all of your tangles are inspiring.

  

Good Mail Day

Yesterday I went to the mailbox and had the lovely new issue of Sew Somerset in it.
Since I had not ordered the issue, that could only mean that a submission that I had made (in Jan. 2009) had been published.  There on page 122 are photos of my "ScrapBook"!  Insert Happy Dance here!   Here's the book.

And here are the pages that were published.

The pages were simply made from bits and pieces and had no purpose until I found the old cover.  I decided to replace the fragile paper pages with 'fabric' scrapbook pages and remake the book to corral these small works together.  

The directions for making you own book are in the magazine.  I had no idea what elements of the book would be photographed when they asked for directions, so I did not go into page construction as each page is so different.  It really was a fun project to work on combining my love of fabrics, quilting, art journals and book making.   

Now, I'm of to relax and enjoy some time reading about all of the other amazing submissions that are in this new issue of Sew Somerset, it is pure eye candy!

Into The Meadow

That's where I'm heading.  No not really, I am participating in a journal swap with several friends that have dubbed ourselves the Naughty Meadow Girls.  It's a rather long, twisted journey as to the name, and a 'had to be there' plot.  Cindy, Tammy, Jeanne, Linda and I met in Portland, Oregon this last June at ArtFiberFest, and stories evolved.  We decided to keep in touch through a journal swap.  Here is my journal and beginning pages.  I had such a hard time getting started that I decided to send it on, knowing that I could add to my pages when I get it back in the end.  It will be a treasure to behold when it comes full circle.

 

 

 

Bound

I've been fiddling with these journal pages for ages, and not really feeling like I've gotten anywhere.  Yesterday I sat down and bound them into a cover that I made with some scraps on the cutting table.  Now I feel like it is a real journal to play in, and I suddenly appreciate what has happened on the pages.

I've machine stitched many of the pages, adding bits of ribbon and trim and sometimes just doodles.

 I've really been in a journal making mood lately, but will hopefully spend some play time adding to the pages, instead of simply starting something else, yet again.  sigh  But I will celebrate that this project is at least assembled, and no longer in pieces!  

Life Rocks On

Back in December, I gave O. the job of downloading all of my music onto the computer.  In an effort to keep the cd's organized, I had her put a dot sticker on each case after downloading.  I decided that I would be kind and clean them off of each case as I took them in to resale, and began sticking them on a journal page.  I stopped after one page was filled, and inked over the dots, and removed them once again!  I wonder wether or not I can maintain my kindness effort with the ones remaining?  

Wow!  What a difference having all of my music in one place and so accessible!  But I must confess that I could NOT adjust to the earphones and had to get a dock.  The ability of surround sound in my ears, left me twisting and twitching trying to figure out what was making the noise around me.  Quite the site, I'm sure, but peace is in place now that it is  coming from a central location - not my head!  I've never understood the desire for surround sound, I once gave Dean an old drive-in movie speaker and told him that was as close to surround sound as I wanted.

Life has been busy with physical therapy for O. and surgery next week.  Both of the girls have 'friends' of the male gender that have been visiting frequently and that keeps me on my toes.  In an effort for some family bonding, we had them both over last weekend and we all paired up and decorated Easter Gingerbread Houses.  It really was a lot of fun and plenty of laughs to be had.  

I discovered that boys like to throw candy at icing and see if it will stick, they will eat the pieces that don't, and everything is a race.  I'm thinking that God knew what he was doing by giving us girls, but what a blessing to get to spend time with them all having fun.  Hope that your days are full of blessings and a little spring colored sugar!

A New Year

I have been enjoying a new book that I got for Christmas.  Life Is A Verb  would be good any time of year, but very appropriate for the beginning of a new year.  I've also been thinking on a word to pursue this year, and while many come to mind, I think the one that I will choose is simply "YES".  Not real sure what I'm in for, maybe I need to go see the new movie out with Jim Carrey  in it.  I may change my mind.  While last year was a year of growth, it was also a year of eliminating the things that weren't working, and I am very ready to start filling in some of the empty space, what better way than to just leap by saying yes?

There hasn't been much else going on around here, the weather was gorgeous yesterday and gone today, so it is always an experiment in dressing.  Last night we went to a basketball game and you could see people in every season of clothing.  Those dressing for the weather and those wearing their recent gifts - Ugg boots sitting next to flip flops!  But then again, we are in small town Texas and some of us don't look in the mirror again after 9am, I am very guilty of that one.

As promised, here are a few journal pages, in various stages of completeness.  I don't work in it near as much as I would like, but I am beginning to relax and enjoy it more.  Hopefully there are more pages in my near days.