working on Africa and a finished piece

the tusks on the elephant are all beaded now

and yesterday I went through all of the stuff that I once used on teddy bears and found the onyx beads that will be perfect eyes on this piece

the first elephant piece I had done was a rectangular piece with both the mama and the baby in it, this one looks more like the dad -- for some reason just more imposing -- maybe its the darker color

and this panel is more of a square

more beading to follow!





spent a lot of time working on the next stamp for the Africa series

finally got a line drawing of a Great Ape that I was happy with and got the stamp all cut

hopefully today I'll be able to get some fabric prepared and get a good clean stamp of this one

I would like to have this one to take with me on Saturday for the demos I'll be doing at the Art Center again

its amazing that after all the fussing over this piece how well it actually came out

after I cut this one I find that I have enough material to cut one more stamp for this series -- if it is an animal that I can cut out the shape of material that is left -- I'll be working on figuring out what animal that might be -- and then I guess I'll be needing to get some more material to cut stamps from

finished this piece last night

I'm pretty pleased with this piece

when I went looking for something to use inside the bracelet, I discovered that I had some peacock blue leather on hand which is a perfect match

once I finished this piece I did start right in on another piece that involves Rocky Mountain Beach Glass that I already had laid out, but I'm working on an idea for a necklace that will take this whole peacock idea to a whole new level (I hope -- if my idea works!)

the repair man is on his way to look at the dryer -- time to get moving

started with good intentions

after watching several videos on YouTube that gave step by step instructions to take apart a Whirlpool dryer I headed downstairs with the necessary tools and a few extra items in hand

many years ago I had taken apart a dishwasher and replaced the timer unit, so I'm not terribly intimidated by mechanical things, so I figured I could do this

working through the check list --

remove the 2 screws in the lint filter housing -- check

pop open the top of the dryer -- check

remove the screws from the back panel -- check

pull the lead wires from the heat box panel -- here I did a little extra step, labeling each wire before removing it -- check

remove the top screw that holds the heat box -- a bit more challenging because of tight work space -- check

lift heat box out of casing -- uh, not so much

while the video shows this as being a simple procedure, in this particular dryer it just isn't going to happen

all of which means I have two choices here -- call in a repair man or buy a new dryer -- either of which will be more expensive than it would have been for me to pull the parts and replace them

nuts!

I guess I'll be making some calls this morning to see if I can find a repair man

Art Show Opening

Yesterday morning we headed off to Palmer Lake for the opening of the TriLakes Fiber Art Show

It was pretty thrilling to walk in the front door and see my name on the list of Gallery Artists!

Of course I went to see how my pieces had been hung

they look pretty good hanging together on the wall with the gallery's track lighting shining on them

There are a dozen artists that are part of the show, and I had only met or knew by name one of them

what I was supposed to do while I was there was to work on some of my pieces in process and explain the process to people that were interested

I had a nice table in the corner of the gallery where I had enough space to lay out the pieces that I was working on for the African series








before we went I had used the sea sponges to put on some color that looks like bushes and trees

while I was there, I added the "branches" and some additional color to the ground so all the animals look like they are standing on the ground, not floating in the air

after I finished that, I did the beading on the tusks of the elephant

these are coming along well, and while I was working on them, some new ideas about layout and finishing started to come to me

sometimes to have art "happen" you just have to show up and do the work!

next weekend I'll be doing the afternoon shift for demonstrations, so this week I'll be trying to figure out what I need to do next

the bead work is done

and here it is next to the inspiration that started this whole project

for the first time in several projects that involve a cuff bracelet, I did not have to add any additional beading once I had completed the pattern to make it long enough to fit the cuff -- I have no idea what I did differently because it didn't feel different at the time, but I'm happy that it came out a perfect fit

this afternoon I'll be trying to find some leather to use for the inside of the cuff

can't wait to get this one completed!

Preparing for the Exhibit Opening

Tomorrow morning I'll be heading off to do demonstrations at the opening of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow - Fabric Art at its Finest at the TriLakes Center in Palmer Lake (map here)

Of course that meant that I needed to figure out just exactly what I was going to demonstrate!

Yesterday afternoon I pulled out the panels I had stamped with African animals a while back and did the "painting" of the foliage around each of the animals

I had thought about taking along the supplies and tools for actually cutting the stamps that I create for the animals, but I don't have a good drawing for the next animal set up yet, so I'll just take the stamps I already have and talk about that if someone is interested

Today I'll need to figure out which of these panels I want to work on first and use the markers to put in the branches under the leaves of the little trees and bushes -- and pack up all the supplies and tools that are required

Demos start at 10 am, so this needs to get done today!

even though I was concentrating on the quilting yesterday, I did do some more work on this piece

like most pieces when they get to about this stage, I'm already in the "are we done yet" mind set, wanting to get it finished to move on to the next piece

the patterning around the individual centers is starting to run together, which is pretty exciting

the knitting continues on the Christmas sweater

last night I finished the back of the sweater

I also cast on the sleeves and worked the ribbing on them

I'm a little concerned that I won't have enough yarn to put a hood on this one -- I'm down to one skein and one little ball left with two sleeves yet to do before the hood gets picked up and knit from there -- I'd be a lot more comfortable with this if I had one additional skein since this is a yarn that has a dye lot and I'm not sure I'll be able to find another skein that matches

we'll see how that all goes

something from the garage workshop

many years ago (I'm not sure exactly how many because these came with us when we moved here almost 10 years ago) a dear friend gave me these pieces of wood yard art

over the years some of the leaves had cracked and all of the paint had faded

the past month or so the DH has been working on "restoring" these to their former glory

He cut some new leaves to replace the broken ones, repainted everything and then gave them all a coat of marine varnish which should help protect them from the weather

yesterday he reinstalled them in back yard where I can see them from my kitchen window as I'm standing at the sink

very nice!
progress is being made on this cuff bracelet

yesterday I did the first of the feather patterning

working on this is very much like doodling with a needle and thread and beads

it was hard to put it down last night to get some other things done!

we're in that transition time from summer towards winter -- the portable swampy cooler has been drained and stored in the shed, and the space heater and humidifier have been cleaned and put in place in the family room where we spend our evenings --

today I will be spending some time in the studio preparing for the demonstrations I'll be doing on Saturday at the Tri Lakes Art Show -- I've had a hard time getting my head focused on this project until today, but this morning I'm feeling better about it, so I'm hoping it will come together without much stress

time to get to it!

trying to return to "normal"

some grocery shopping needed doing after we'd been gone off and on for almost two weeks

and I spent some time working on the beading of this piece

moving along slowly



since we had helped with pumpkin picking at our daughter's we also knew there would be pumpkin picking at our house

these five beauties are sitting on the deck right outside my garage where they can finish turning completely orange

there will be some good eating out of those!



and there should be a lot of good eating out of these too

the two orange ones are hubbards and we had a bumper crop of butternuts too

these are hanging out in the house for now, while we decide when we'll cut, clean, cook and freeze




and right now the living room looks like a laundry

before the last load got finished yesterday the dryer quit working -- it goes round and round but doesn't get hot, so I hung all the kitchen towels over the rods on the warping board to let them dry

obviously we'll have to do something about that issue

and this morning when I got the oil changed in the van I got the bad news that it needs about $800 worth of work

geesh -- could use a break here!

A busy weekend

Actually, the past two weekends have been a whirl wind of activity

The first weekend I was the house and pet sitter for my daughter so she and her husband and Mr Cute could go to visit with her husband's parents

During that weekend, the DH and I spent time creating all of the baskets for the Charity Auction that I chaired again this year

This weekend was the actual auction -- set up on Saturday morning -- it was raining and cold and we were worried the whole thing would be a bust because the silent auction items were across the street from the theatre where the program was going on -- but the weather did cooperate and the program and the auction went off without a hitch -- in fact the program was a rousing success and the auction had only 6 items that didn't sell -- WHOOO HOOOOO!

when we do these auctions, we stay with our daughter

which means we get to do things with them on Sunday when the work is all done

like helping pick their pumpkins -- that biggest one is starting to turn orange, and in a week or so will be a really beautiful pumpkin

and when they were gone they had the chance to pick fresh plums which they brought home (two big bags full)

so a lot of them got turned into jam

a lot of jam

and it tastes great!

some of this came home with us

and there was the baking of brownies

which made for a really pretty dessert -- brownie, ice cream, chocolate sauce and raspberries

yummy -- very yummy





during all this activity Mr Cute had time to play with our big dog

she just lays there and lets him crawl all over her

such a good dog with him

here he's holding one of his favorite "toys" (he also had a cardboard egg carton over the weekend)

his daddy calls the spoon "the whapping stick" --

he's soooooooo adorable



when we returned yesterday I actually did a little work on the beading project I've been doing

it's coming along slowly


this week I'll be getting ready to do demos at the opening of the TriLakes fabric art show on Saturday -- jumping right from one event to another!

and of course all that time back and forth in the car meant lots of time knitting afghan squares

here's the stack!

time to get moving -- laundry to do and then there is the demo stuff to organize

Ping! Ping!

the time for tomatoes is winding down -- the weather forecast for this weekend is for the temperature to drop below freezing, which means we'll be stripping everything bigger than a ping pong ball off the tomato plants and bringing them all into the house to ripen

yesterday afternoon there was the canning of more of the ones that had already been picked

a dozen pints of tomatoes -- skinned, mixed with some lemon juice and put up whole for use later as soups and pasta sauce and swiss steak --- yummy

ping! times 12 -- love it

even though I'm still up to my eye balls in charity auction paperwork, I'm still trying to spend a little time every day working on something creative

the bead work on this project, for instance

the surface is slowly being filled with beads -- and I'm now getting to the part that will include some interesting patterns created by the beads

and it's becoming more clear to me as I work on this bracelet that I'm going to be taking the idea to the next step as well -- a collar necklace that will use this idea but also include some open work -- more digging for materials to follow!

progress continues on the Christmas sweater

both of the fronts with all the wonderful cables are off onto "stitch holders" (heh, right, read "scrap yarn") while I knit the back and the sleeves

(after that all the stitches at the tops of the pieces get picked up and knit into the hood)

I have cast on the back and worked up about 3 inches already -- looking good


yesterday the DH and I got our flu shots -- this is your reminder to go and do likewise!!

morning glory

the past few days the big black dog that lives here has been waking me up in the middle of the night

I'm not sure what's going on with her, and frankly I'm feeling a little draggy because I'm sleeping in 2 hour stretches -- it's like having a baby in the house

the up side of this early morning activity is getting to see the sunrise -- which was especially colorful

today is the deadline for the auction catalog, so I'm guessing I won't get much time in the studio ---

time to get to that pile of paperwork!!

and the verdict is

more fronds

lots more fronds

since I had been steadily stitching fronds onto the redwood branches I decided to take a picture to see how this is looking

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed -- unlike the aspen leaves that really show up and give the real impression of there being enough leaves on those trees, the redwood still looks -- well, bare

there will obviously be a lot more stitching

I picked up another spool of deep green with very subtle variations to do the next batch -- after I finish the layer I'm doing right now

seems this project will take a bit longer to finish than I thought it would

onward

beading progress

no matter which way you turn this piece, it's looking pretty awesome

last night I finished stitching the bronze-y beads around the stones so now it's on to the next color





earlier in the day I had been out and about and stopped off in a bead store

where I picked up some beads that will probably turn up in the piece I'm working on right now

also got some new stone pieces to work around including a matte finish cabochon that is called African Turquoise, but is actually a jasper

I've never seen a cabochon with a matte finish before, and I really like it -- unusual -- so now I'm thinking about an equally unusual piece to put it in to

and that pink behind these items? heh, well, the mat I had been using in my beading tray for a long time is pretty grubby, and I was able to get this new one for less than a dollar -- now I can wash the old one (wonder if the dirt is what's holding it together) and have two of these and be able to work on two projects at once -- yeah, like I need THAT encouragement!

also stopped in another quilt store and picked up some additional fabrics for the Four Seasons pieces

the brown tone pieces I had already still just didn't speak "tree bark" to me, so I was still on the hunt for something that did

this one is much closer

the brown and the blue on white patterning (which I plan to use in the winter panel) are commercial fabrics, but the third piece is a hand painted fat quarter which has a lot of colors that I'll be able to use in the spring, summer and fall panels -- nice!

all of these fabrics, and the ones I got the day before need to go into the laundry before I start cutting into them

meantime, I'm researching the proper angle for shadows in each of the panels

having fun!

more bounty from the garden

as the nights start to get cooler, we're out picking the garden with more intensity

the tomato plants have become a huge interwoven wall of green to the point that you can't tell which plant is which -- the beef steak tomatoes and the romas are distinguishable, but every thing else is a "tomato"

the zucchini is slowing down -- fewer blooms on the plant, and I'm picking them when they are smaller

the one plant that seems to have kicked into over drive as the season draws to a close is the jalapeno -- we're going to have to figure out what to do with all of them

I made a trip to the fabric store yesterday

after I had been through the bins of fabric that I had in hand, I had discovered that I just didn't have enough fabric to use for the sky in each of the four pieces, and the fabric for the trees themselves was iffy as well

found these lovelies yesterday

the plan is to use each of those sky fabrics in two of the panels

and the white on white is for the winter panel

all of these have to go into the washer first, however


and then there were these two pieces that just jumped into the pile all by themselves

I like the colors and patterns of these -- even though right now I don't have a specific use for them

stash building


meantime I'm still working hard on auction stuff -- this time next week I'll be setting everything up in the facility

time to get back to the paperwork!

back to slogging

I'm still slogging along through paper work and organization on the upcoming charity auction (9 days and counting down) --- awk!

I did spend some time yesterday working on the latest beading project, however

I have 3 of the bronze-y circles done and started in on the 4th one

nice

work on the trees quilt is coming along nicely

as is the sweater front

pictures again soon -- I promise!

more bounty from the garden

it's that time of the gardening season that we're putting something up almost every week

this week's endeavor was putting up whole tomatoes

they just get skinned and put into the jars -- and they are the basis of future soup or sauces this winter

yummy

after running around to pick up items for the charity auction yesterday afternoon, I actually had some time to work on this bead work project

this is coming out amazingly well

slowly

but nice



today is payday, so we're off to do our monthly Costco trip and other shopping --- hopefully time in the studio after that

more beads, more fabric

looking good

love the bronze-y beads -- they are Charlottes which have a cut surface that makes them have more "sparkle" than a standard glass seed bead does

nice!




I did the great "fabric dig" yesterday (and may I say it is much easier when the tubs are all organized!)

found most of what I need -- with one glaring exception -- no sky fabric

which means I can't really start on this project until after pay day --- BOOOOOOO!

oh well, I do still have art projects to work on

and the ever present charity auction paper work -- only 11 days to go!!