Thinking About Spring?

After only two cold days, bbbrrrrr............ I think I have become a wimp! We have been spoiled with good weather since that awful storm in October and now it is really becoming winter.

I started machine work on my Marsh Marigold yesterday and like how it is coming out. Of course, I actually planned this piece to be SMALLER, but my ideas and actuality don't seem to mesh! I find that a teeny bit frustrating as I have a few really small canvasses I want to fill. I think I just need to do a one flower type thing, time will tell.

I did myself a favor the other day and hid the Craisins (people here eat everything) in order to make some cranberry orange cookies, but can't seem to find where I put them! That figures.
The other day we were looking for a small electric heater we have and we both thought it was in the box. Looked there, but no heater. We can't seem to find it. I just wanted to record that for my next CRS Club meeting - LOL!

So, I end on the note that everything here is just fine and normal. Wishing you all a wonderful 2012!

AH HA! Found the Craisins ...............hiding in plain sight  :)

Holiday Greetings and Salutations!

Happy Holidays to ALL those wonderful people I know and Love!

Now, on to this mornings fun/play time. I changed and arranged, cut more and discarded little pieces of colors and assembled them back into the Grackle. I added some ink lightener and I think I am happy with this guy now.

I just have to sew him down, add another reed and I'm off and running with the machine quilting.

After Christmas Day..............................

Food and the connected memories it brings

I just finished reading Melody Johnson's post about perogies and the memories it invoked. Got me to thinking about my childhood food favorites.

My Grandmother used to make Gorton or a meat (pork) spread. I loved that! I have made it as well, but it just wasn't Grammys, if you know what I mean? We also loved to get toast on the stove that my Aunt made for us. My older brother and I always wanted the piece with the white square in it. This is before they owned a toaster and had this great gas stove with a flat cook top and covers. Such was life with French Canadian Grandparents.

I grew up in a very diversified neighborhood of all different nationalities - which meant all kinds of small grocery stores selling the yummy specialties that I grew to love.
We had a small Polish market on the street behind us - best kielbasa and bubka, in front of us was Syrian - we used to get fresh pita bread and simsen (sp?) right out of the oven for .08 a large pita and .15 for simsen.  To the left was Canadian and to the right was a mix of all kinds of people. We used to go up to the Italian section of town on our bikes for pastries, lemon slush, olives and bread. That part of town provided a feast for a buck!  OI! What delights.

Today I will bake cookies and pecan pie for a family gathering tomorrow night. Yes, we will have other food, but I only bake pecan pie once a year, so.....

Christmas dinner, we will be having a Greek Lamb stew with Caesar salad. Should be good and of course.............leftovers, my favorite :)

Starting another new one

This one is going to be a landscape type of a post I saw near home. I just found it interesting, so took a photo and now I like it enough to make it permanent and into art.

Before washing

Here's process photos of the background that I painted. This first photo has been done in stages. First I painted the sky and another bright green. I put salt on the green to see what happened. Then I washed it out by hand, pressed it and went on to put the darker green over the light green. I tipped the platter the piece was on so the paint would (hopefully) run down and make tree tops. Well it needed a little help (and I can't leave stuff alone) so I used a toothpick and made pointy tree tops.

After washing

Once that was dry, I then pressed it and thought about it. Then washed it in hot water in the washer.
I like the way that came out and it is what I wanted. Pretty successful all around. Now to cut out and applique the post and tree for the center. (all this stuff is done in the dead of the morning as we are renovating my son's bedroom too.)

Tis the season

To be so busy that you just don't have a minute to do much, except keep up with family.

Happy Holidays!

Sunday is our 35th Wedding Anniversary! We will probably go out to eat (yah! I don't have to cook) and maybe see the exhibit at the Museum of Science - Pompeii.
Not very romantic, but I know I'll never get to Italy to see the real Pompeii, so why not take advantage of it?







I finished applique on my Marsh Marigolds and started another small wall art, this one will be a Purple Trillium. Just rounding out my wildflower collection.
So, I have a line up of:
-Marsh Marigolds
-Gentian
-Common Grackle
-Purple Trillium
-Post with a Tree (sounds boring, but I liked it and that's what really counts)
I need a couple more to make up the balance of my work for spring jury for the League.

Talked with a gallery owner about my work in his gallery after the holidays. Could be a good place to market my work. I hear it is a busy place, most of the year.
I dumped out my scrap bag to see what I have..................hhhmmmm, looks like lots of small scraps.

In my mind, I am planning to do some fabric printing and stuff like that after Christmas when the weather gets cold and nasty.

Grackle progress

In between home renovations, I actually get to enjoy something - (the other stuff is just work.) So I have been working on the grackle. I fed him a little and now he looks better, but not quite perfect (to my eye.) I have shreds of fabric in a pile and little pieces everywhere. My working space keeps getting smaller as I cut away! LOL!