This is Hard

My daughter Julie and her husband Jeff are expecting their second child any day now. Julie is more than ready to be "not pregnant." Our little Melody is nearly two years old and, as such, keeps her mom very very busy.

Understandably, Julie's patience is worn a bit thin. She wonders how she'll handle all of this ... a newborn and a two year old with no extended family in town to lend a hand.

So I made her this sign, as a small reminder. Many moms have gone before her. Many will follow. That doesn't make her job right now any easier.

Now that most of the ice field that filled our back yard is melted, and the temperatures get above 50 degrees most days, I figured the Spring runoff from the mountains is likely filling Lake Coeur d'Alene and flowing down the Spokane River. It's time for my annual trip to the Post Falls dam to experience the full roar of our Falls.

I was surprised that the park was so quiet. A man, his dog, some noisy waterfowl, and me.

So far, the eight small gates at the dam are open. They cause quite a roar, but not as ferocious as when the main gate is open. I'll return then to feel the full force of the river as it careens into the narrow gorge below the falls.

I was able to take a lot of time at the Falls with my camera. She and I are getting reacquainted. I played with light settings to capture both the green river water and the fog in the background that curls around the hills surrounding Lake Coeur d'Alene. I played with the shutter speed settings to see if I could get the falling water to blur a little, then a lot. Forty five shots later, this is the photo that best captures my chilly morning with Mother Nature.

Little Miss Photo Mojo is peeking around the corner. I hope she'll soon hold my hand tightly again.

Even photographers can get a case of writer's block. Let's say ... the dam is starting to burst.

Swing Time!

Another photo from last weekend with our granddaughter Melody at the park. Just look at the smiles on those two.

Be still my heart!

Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 9)

I started out stitching some gifts in the summer of 2004.


If I Stitch Fast

That summer, I worked with a personal fitness trainer to learn how to have good form while weight training and healing a back injury. As we came to know each other, I learned that she was a new stitcher. While she taught me the finer points of muscle tone, I gave her tips on cross-stitch.

One week, on a Thursday, I told her that my youngest daughter was about to turn eleven.

"Oh, yeah? When?" she asked.

"Next Thursday. A week from today."

"Really? My birthday is the day before hers."

"Wow!" 

That got my mind stirring. Stitchers love to stitch for other stitchers because we can be assured that the stitched gift will be appreciated. But if I was going to stitch a gift for Jane, I now only had a week!

Into my stash I dove, and came up with this cute chart. What better sentiment for a once-fluffy stitcher to give to her personal trainer, right?

I decided to finish the stitchery as a pillow because it's a pretty quick finish. Besides, I liked the soft flannel fabric with the energetic pattern and the fuzzy trim I found.

I was able to finish the pillow in a week, and gave it to her the day after her birthday.

Bonus! Jane and I are still friends and keep in touch via Facebook.

Giraffe Bookmark

I enjoy stitching bookmarks as quick gifts. But I realized and hadn't kept any for myself. I decided to take a break from the major piece I'd been working on and make a bookmark just for me.

A giraffe, of course! This long-necked beauty came from a booklet of designs charted for Ribband. 

Fifteen years later, this is still my favorite bookmark. I keep it in books beside my bed.

Grandmothers

I started this piece thinking it would be a "quick stitch" that I could have completed in a couple weeks — in time for my adopted Grandmother's birthday on May 14th.

Wrong!

The center motif stitch up quickly, but then I got to the backstitching/blackwork vines in each corner and got stalled — for weeks! I'm not sure what it was about the lines that made them so difficult for me. I think it was because there were no good reference points for me to check my stitching against, and I kept making mistakes. That caused quite a bit of ripping and re-stitching. I ended up stitching one of the corners four times before I got the placing right.

This is an example of where taking a little time to grid the fabric beforehand would have saved a lot of stitching time, and even more frustration.

Live and learn. 

Once the vines were stitched, the flowers and beading went fairly smoothly. I love the way it turned out and was pleased to present it to her for her 90th birthday.

Easter Banner Part 1

I'm being optimistic here by putting "Part 1" in the title. This sweet cross-stitch pattern was stitched in 2002. My goal is that by the end of the weekend, I'll have finished it into a banner to display this Easter. It will also hit one of my March targets as part of my #19 in 2019 goals.

Wish me luck.

Better yet, send me some sewing and photography mojo!

Pebbles Flintstone

I decided to do another small drawing this morning using an online tutorial.

Continuing Saga

A quick snapshot on the way back from the mailbox today because I'm uber busy and getting a lot done.

My crocus are starting to bloom! I found two crocus poking up in the back yard, too, waiting to unfurl.

Playground Joy

Dale and I drove to Moscow this weekend to visit with Julie's family. Their new baby is due in a few weeks. To give her parents a break, we took Melody to the park. She loves the "big kid" climbing structure with its tunnels and slides.

Pile o' Crayons

This 500 piece jigsaw puzzle was quite a challenge! It took me a while to find a way into this one. The shapes of the pieces are very similar, so I couldn't sort them by vertical and horizontal. The colors were so mixed up that sorting by color didn't help much. I didn't have much luck putting together clusters of pieces that could then be dropped into place. Much of the puzzle had to be built from the edges inward.

I finally was able to put some of the printed words together. That became the key to this puzzle. It took the better part of a week to complete.

I Believe

The slope in our back yard is still an ice field. The steps to the lower porch are still blocked by a glacier.

Yet look what I found by the front door this morning!

The first two crocus have shown their colors!

The tulips aren't far behind.

OK. I Believe.
Spring is finally here.

I was even able to open all the windows to air out the house after a long, long winter. Today's high temperature will be 55°. The sun is out. The birds are singing. For the moment, all is right with my world.

#flowersforfriday

Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 8)

If it's Thursday, it's time to look back to projects I made years ago. This is the final project I stitched in May 2004. It's a chart called Sewing Memories by Michele Johnson which I finished as a trinket box.


Sewing Memories

This design caught my eye because of its coloring — like a sepia-tone photo. The entire piece uses only eight shades of floss, all in the off-white, grey-brown and beige color families. I tea-dyed a piece of white Monaco for the ground cloth.

Nearly the entire 84 stitch x 84 stitch area is solid stitching. The main design (quilt, sewing machine and cabinet) are stitched with full crosses. The background is two shades of floss in half crosses. It was intense stitching! It would have been wise to grid the fabric before starting to stitch. Unfortunately, I was not wise and had a number of mistakes that had to be ripped out and re-stitched. Lesson learned!

There was also a good deal of backstitching on this piece. To make the process somewhat simpler, I did the backstitching in sections as I went along. But because of needing to keep track of the multiple quarter stitches, some of the backstitching was also a challenge and time consuming. 

Once the stitching was completed, I then had a new challenge. I wanted to finish this piece in a unique way. I scoured the local thrift shops and big box stores to see if I could find a wooden jewelry box or interesting frame that I could refinish and mount this stitching in. I finally found a wooden box with a lip on the lid that was the correct size. Unfortunately, the clasp that held the lid shut was broken. Because of the problem, I was able to buy it at a 40% discount. Score!

I ended up removing the broken latch and sanding smooth the holes that the small nails left in the front of the box.

My next step was to figure out how I wanted to finish the box. Stain? Paint? Decorative painting? I finally settled on a simple decorative finish ... an ivory base coat with a forest green splatter paint technique. I painted the box inside and out, then coated it with two coats of a glossy varnish.

I used cardboard and a deep-brown felt-like fabric to make a lining for the inside of the box. That was a hit-and-miss process, since I'd previously never attempted to line a box. But it went together fairly smoothly. I got the fit so snug that it didn't even require glue to hold the lining in place. It looks sharp!

Then I mounted the stitchery to a piece of foam core using a method much like you'd do to mount stitchery for framing. I sewed the ecru cording around the edge of the stitchery and snugged it into place in the box lid. Again, the stitchery fit so well that no glue was required. (I tested it by turning the box upside-down and shaking it, trying to make the stitchery fall out. But it held!)

The very last step was to create a label to put inside the lid of the box. I created this piece for my friend, Virginia, in honor of her birthday. I enjoy making special gifts for her because, as an avid quilter, she appreciates the work I put into her gifts.

Rosie

Rosie is the housekeeper robot on The Jetsons.

I love the way this came out. I drew it larger than yesterday's drawing. It worked much better for me.

Elroy Jetson

People are more difficult for me to draw than animals. I think I could have done a better job if I'd drawn him bigger. This image is only about 3 inches tall, where Road Runner was about 8 inches. I feel like I was scrunched for space today, especially when drawing the face. Next time I'll spread out more.

My colors are a little off in this drawing, too. I suppose I need to dig through my colored pencil stash for more options.

Today, I tried drawing while using my laptop screen for the tutorial. That was a little frustrating, due to how sunlight hits the screen. Plus, the screen times out (fades to black) while I'm working. Using my phone is less frustrating, but still not ideal. I'll try printing the tutorial to see if that works better. I'm getting closer to finding a method that works best for my learning style.

I do like what I'm learning as I do these tutorials. I'm starting to understand how to use geometric shapes as the "bones" of the drawing, then adding and subtracting curved lines to form "shapes," then adding "skin" with details. It's a layering process that I hadn't used before. It's also helping me with perspective and proportion. Good stuff.

Road Runner

My latest drawing, at Dale's suggestion. I added the background, which wasn't in the tutorial.

I'll eventually use a drawing pad. For now, I'm using up old spiral notebooks as part of my Whittle a Little year. The lines come in handy when I takes notes from The Creative License.

Muttley

I always liked Muttley for the way he laughed.

I made an attempt at some subtle shading with this drawing.

St. Patrick's Day Clothespin Wreath

A couple weeks ago I chose to spend my Artist Date on Pinterest. I wondered through my feed to see what the algorithms thought I might enjoy. I revisited items I'd already pinned. I went down some rabbit holes. It was refreshing to take time to soak in new ideas and marvel at how clever people are.

The play time inspired me to make another St. Patrick's Day project. I decided on a clothespin wreath. In honor of my Whittle a Little year, I gave myself an additional challenge to make this wreath using only items I had on hand. It turned out that I didn't have a proper wreath form, so even that had to come from my imagination.

I gathered these items:

• foam core
• a green marker
• some green handmade scrapbook paper
• clothespins in two sizes
• a sheet of green gem stickers
  .

• two rolls of washi tape, one with green stripes, the other with gold chevrons
• narrow picot edge green satin ribbon
• gold mesh ribbon a bit over an inch wide
• wide wire-edge ribbon in gold and white.

Using a plastic bowl, I traced a circle on the foam core and cut it out with a craft knife.

I measured in an inch or so from the edge, creating a smaller circle, and cut the inside circle out, leaving a ring of foam core to use as my wreath base.

Next I poked two holes in the foam core and laced through them a piece of picture frame wire. I twisted the wire into a loop, with the twisted ends on the front side of the wreath. Once the foam core was covered with the green paper, the twisted wire would be hidden, leaving a clean loop on the back of the wreath. This wire loop is used to hang the completed wreath.

I used the handmade green scrapbook paper and some white glue (which dries clear) to cover the foam core. I overlapped the inner edge of the ring with the paper to hide the inner edge of the foam core. I cut little slits along the outer edge of the paper to wrap around the outer edge of the foam core and mold the paper into the circular shape.

I experimented with the clothespins to determine both the placement, and the amount of clothespins I'd need. I pinned them in place temporarily to clamp the paper to the foam core until the paper dried.

Then it was time to decorate the clothespins. The small clothespins were easy to cover. I simply used white glue to attach the narrow satin ribbon to one side of a clothespin, then trimmed the ribbon to size.

The large clothespins took a bit more time to decorate. The washi tape is wider than the clothespins. So I centered the clothespin on top of the inverted tape, cut the tape a bit longer than needed, and adhered the clothespin to the tape. Then I used a craft knife to trim the tape to the exact size of the clothespin on all four sides.

I chose a pattern of one green clothespin, then one gold, then a small ribbon-covered clothespin.

Once they were in place, I put a green gem sticker at the tip of each clothespin to form a sparkly circle.

I hung the wreath on my wall to figure out what to do next. Unfortunately, the white edge of the foam core was still slightly visible, even though it was hidden under the lip of the green paper. So I used a green marker to color in the edge of the white foam core and camouflage it a bit.

I next needed to decide what kind of bow to use, how big of a bow I wanted, what method I wanted to use to create the bow, and where I wanted to place it. I used a method similar to the one in the video at this link ... but I sort of made it up as I went along, trial and error. (The video has a great tip about gathering the bow which I'll be sure to use next time).

I used the full length of white/gold ribbon that I had on hand. I tied the center of the bow with the narrow gold mesh ribbon. My bow had huge loops at the top. So I took each of the loops and folded it in on itself to give the illusion of a smaller loop on top of a bigger loop. Because the ribbon has a wire edge, the four loops hold their shape, even though the smaller top loop is not held in place at the center of the bow.

I decided to place the loop at the top of the wreath, slightly off center.

With the wreath complete, I hung it over the mantle ... and looked at it for a few hours. Something wasn't right. I decided that the scale was off. My wreath was too small for that big expanse of brick.

I had two sets of green glitter shamrocks on hand and thought I might be able to attach them to the back of the wreath to make the wreath larger.

I used transparent tape to hold the shamrocks in place, then hung the wreath again ... and looked at it for more than a day. Something was still off.

Though the size was much better, the glittery shamrocks completely overpowered the simplicity of the clothespins ... and the clothespins were supposed to be the stars of this wreath.

So I removed the shamrocks and decided to hang the wreath on a wall in the dining room. The scale is much better, and it hangs at eye level. The clothespins once again have center stage.

I like that this wreath whispers "St. Patrick's Day" instead of screaming it. I think I may get away with displaying it after that holiday is over.

So what did I do with my mantle? Glitter shamrock confetti!

(I need to find a different spot to store the Bic candle lighter. It ruins the color scheme).  😉

The living room is ready for a St. Patrick's Day party ... which probably means a bowl of popcorn and a movie. Along with a kiss or two, of course.

We party hardy around here.

Bugs Bunny

I used a different tool to help me with today's drawing. It's a tutorial I found online.

I'm so pleased with the results!

One Month of Drawing

I've been working with The Creative License for a month now.  😏

Cold, Stark, and Bare

This photo from November 2012 looks a lot like the world outside today.

This is another of my all-time favorite photos.

Chrysanthemum

This image is from a series of my photographs called Deep In Bloom. This is one of the first photos that I took when I received a macro filter ... which is like a magnifying glass put on your camera lens. To focus, you manually move your camera toward and away from your subject.

This is one of my all-time favorite photographs. I captured this photo at the curb of a neighbor's yard on September 19, 2006. It was Day 94 of my Creative Journey.

A Quiet Moment

Since I'm still not quite on my game and creating new crafts or images, I thought I'd pull a favorite photo from my past to share today.

I took this photo on June 20, 2006 when I first got serious about wanting to become a better photographer using a little Canon point-and-shoot camera that would fit in my pocket. At that time, I called my photo learning project my Creative Journey. I'd take photos every day, pick out the very best one to share, and throw away the rest. This photograph was taken on Day 4.

On that Spring-nearly-Summer day, my daughter Jodie and I went for our first picnic of the season to Falls Park here in Post Falls. She'd recently bought these shoes with the adorable lining. We took our shoes off to walk in the grass. We spread out the old Snoopy blanket on which to sit and eat our lunch. The smell of the grass, avoiding duck and goose droppings, the laughter of kids, the older couple who were steadying one another while slowly making their way to a picnic table, the energizing nature of negative ions emanating from the Falls ... all memory snapshots in addition to this image.

I'm longing for Spring right now. But in north Idaho we'll remain frozen this week. Snow on Tuesday. Nighttime temperatures remain below freezing. It's supposed to be cloudy on most days. But later in the week we may hit the magical temperature of 40 degrees. Coats will be replaced with sweaters. Some men, young and old, will don shorts to wear with their white socks and athletic shoes.

In the mean time, I'll cocoon inside. I'll stitch. Make some soup. Dale and I are binge watching Mozart in the Jungle. It's a wonderful way to teleport away from this land of ice, cold, ice, snow, icicles, and ice. In a few weeks, our beautiful land will show her colors again.

My patience is, unfortunately, wearing thin. This picture eases my unrest.

Repeat

Another day of movies, stitching, and healing. With a touch of crying thrown in. 'Cuz that's how I roll.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

Swatched

I'm a little woozy today. To keep busy, I'm watching love story movies while stitching squares of random color.

Works for me.

Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 7)

I'm keeping it simple today (since I'm under the weather), and sharing just this one project.

I'm generally not a fan of samplera, but this cute little design was tucked away in my stash, waiting patiently for me to find a reason to stitch it. I found the right time when my youngest daughter was to leave elementary school — a school our family had been a part of for 10 years. 

To mark the event, I decided to stitch something special as a going away gift for my daughter's teacher. My daughter had a great year, and I appreciate all her teacher did to steer my daughter toward excellence. I decided to give an apple to her teacher. I finished it as a pencil canister, complete with 15 colorful, sharp pencils.

I stitched the sampler on Banjo Cloth, a rustic fabric with a yellowish tinge to it. I changed the color of the letters in the sampler from the cream (called for in the chart) to a complementary color, a dusty purple. That way the letters could "pop" off the Banjo Cloth.

I used an empty Crystal Light container for the base of the pencil canister. I cut the fabric a bit larger than finished size, and just folded the top and bottom edges under. I stitched them into place with a simple running stitch in the same color as the apple's leaf.

I then held the fabric in place on the starting edge, the top, and the bottom with double-sided tape. Then I sewed the ending/overlapping folded edge to the starting edge with a hidden whip stitch. Simple and effective.

Kiss Me

I'm decorating for St. Patrick's Day.

I wonder what Ancestry.com would say about the percentage of Irish in me.

Zero % !!!!

(I don't really wonder)

More Nightlife in Philadelphia

The Tobacco Shop

Click for larger image

Lighting, architecture, history, advertising, color.

Nightlife in Philadelphia

The Cuba Club, historic district

click for larger image

Lion Sentinel

On the streets of Philadelphia

I'm proud of my editing skills with this photo. I was able to draw out a lot of detail. Here's the original.