On Hold

Sorry I haven't posted this week but I seem to have put my life on hold while waiting to get some test results...I hope to hear from my oncologist today and then I'll be able to make some plans and get back to doing some stitching/beading/photographing...

New Trails

Well, I stitched nine of these little squares into 3 sets of 3 and am wondering where I'll go next with them....this is all so new to me that I feel blocked, but I know it's exactly the feeling my new beading students have....there are so many directions to go that it seems overwhelming to choose just one. So I'm telling myself just what I tell them...just choose one and if you don't like it, rip it out and choose another one....tiny, baby steps.

More Pirates

These are the pirates who have "boarded" our little mobile...now they're all off to a hard day's work.

Bits and Pieces

Lizz, of Red Dirt Mother is giving away a darling carved bunny on her blog if you leave a comment about your favorite spring tradition...I left mine (visiting nurseries for new plants), how about you?

I've been thinking about spring too as we're seeing lots of buds on the trees/bushes and small green spears popping up all over....so my wallpaper for my computer this month is a photo of our backyard and porch taken last september.

I picked up some bits and pieces of heavy decorator fabric years ago and unearthed it yesterday to pick it apart and see if I could reuse it...still pondering but I do love some of the fabric...reminds me of some carpet designs and the little moon face at the top has captured my heart.

Pirates!

This weekend is the Seafood and Wine Festival in town and a couple of pirates have come to visit...luckily, they're friendly!

Tan Hearts

I've added a ribbon path sewn down with tan heart-shaped nailheads...it might be done but I'm not sure, so it will sit by me for a while, and I'll work on other pieces until it lets me know if it's finished.

Black Hearts

Black hearts and gold skulls...not very subtle, I guess...

BJP Coming Along

I think this one is going to have a lot more beads and less fiber....

Happy Valentine's Day

I don't usually celebrate valentine's day, although I do love heart motifs and today I'm working on my february bjp, beading a flower in various finishes of pink/magenta beads and thinking of the two major loves of my life, my husband and son.

Featured on Patchwork Underground

About a year ago I was indulging my passion for reading about folks whose homes have wheels, especially ones who have converted retired school buses, and I came across a blog entitled, Building Luna, about two Oregon gals who were in the process of doing just that. I also found out that they were both (Erin and Julia) professional crafters/artisans who sold their work through local craft shows and online...wow, two young gals who were living one of my dreams!
Well, in January, Erin (who is also a writer) started a new blog called Patchwork Underground for her craftwork and of course, I've been following it too. A couple of weeks ago she asked me if I'd mind answering a few questions about my work which she would put on her blog and I said yes...I felt it was quite an honor to be asked and I hope her readers find it interesting.
Anyway, if you've got the time, I'd encourage you to stop by Erin's blogs, not just because I'm featured today, but because I think you'll love her work and independent lifestyle too!
Thanks, Erin, for adding some sunshine to my day today!

Winners

My two winners are ladybug of Living in the light I find and Marva of Purple paint's Muse.
Congratulations and I hope you enjoy the pin/pendants!

This has been a great experience and one I will be doing again!

oh...I forgot to mention that the view out one of my studio windows is on David Castle's blog, David Castle Art!

OWOH Closed

The comments are now closed for the OWOH drawing...I will be using a random number generator to pick the winners and I will post them tomorrow morning. The first number picked will win the face pin/pendant and the second will win the house pin/pendant. (Both pictured at right)

I want to thank everyone who so kindly visited and left comments...it's been a pleasure to read them all and although I didn't have time to visit everyone's blog, I will be visiting the last of them in the weeks to come. (I made it to about 200 of the 270 blog/comments left here.)

This has been a wonderful experience for me and I hope you all feel the same...now I'm going to go and give a big thank you to the amazing creator of this gypsy caravan, Lisa Swifka!

Last Day for OWOH

Just a quick reminder that tonight at 9 pm pacific time (midnight east coast time) is the deadline for leaving comments on the OWOH giveaway....

February BJP

I'm trying to keep the energy going so I found the fabric and the beginning figure for february's bjp. The figure is a small bone skeleton...I think this month's page will have a number of skulls, skeletons, hearts and images of spring.

It snowed a bit this morning but melted in the afternoon...still, it was very pretty while it lasted.

January BJP

I am much relieved to have finally finished the january bjp....for a while it was looking to me like I just wouldn't be able to finish it...whatever idea I'd had in beginning just faded away. I decided I wanted it to be about our trip north and the inauguration and the fabric reminded me strongly of the feeling of hills beyond hills I got from my first trip to bellingham...the words are...dream-hope-sacrifice-joy and they're all beaded. I think this president had given me back a dream I had of this country when I was very young and the hope that it might still get to be that country but not without some sacrifice before we come to joy. Right now it just seems to be the people who are being sacrificed but I'd like to see some of the leaders of our country...maybe the CEO's and other financial leaders as well, also do some sacrificing. Maybe if they sacrificed their millions of dollar bonuses they could keep from laying off so many of the people who worked in their companies and made the millions that paid their bonuses?
So this month's title is...The Long and Winding Road (that leads to your heart)...

We haven't made it to joy just yet...

Sad Week

It's been a rather sad week for us...two friends unexpectedly passed away within 2 days of each other and today was the memorial gathering and ashes scattering of our friend darrell who passed away in november.
Rather naturally, I suppose, I've been thinking about grief and the deep sadness that follows the loss of old friends...and while I want to honor that sadness I find myself also looking for the joy that was present while our friends were alive and trying to remember and feel that as well.
Today was a special gift for darrell since both yesterday and tomorrow are/will be cloudy and wet, but today was sunny and bright and a beautiful day to be on the beach. And later in the day I walked by the bay and watched some tiny ducks diving and splashing around and that was very soothing and calming to me. And the pussy willows and scotch broom are beginning to bloom.
Besides the reliquary and altar I think I might be ready to do a larger piece about our friendship.
Our other two friends are too recently gone for me to do anything but grieve...I hope that eventually I'll be able to make work about them too, that celebrates our years together.
I guess what the heron was saying to me was "patience...in time what you need will come to you".

Bird Branch

On one of my bayside walks this week I saw this branch which looks amazingly like one of our great blue herons...

Beaded Hearts

I made 3 beaded heart squares today for jeanette shanigan's breast cancer support quilt...I joined in 07 but missed last year for some reason so decided I'd like to be involved again this year.

Beach Sun

We often have warm days and we often have sunny days but we don't always have them both on the same day, which is why I love my sun porch so much....but today we had both and it got up to 95 on the porch so I went to the beach with my friend, cheri, and we walked a couple of miles...these are the kind of days that make me glad I work at home!

Valentine

My Valentine's Day offering at my Etsy shop...

OWOH Two

I'm pretty confident we'll hit 200 comments on the OWOH giveaway, so I'm posting my second item, another pin/pendant, this one is from my little house series and is approx. 2x3 inches and made with batik fabric, vintage glass components and a shell bird perched above the round mirrored "window".
Just a reminder that the giveaway closes on the 11th and winners will be contacted on the 12th.