So Busy! With what, you ask?

#205

#206

#207

 After the exhibit for the Artists Coloring Book came down, I got back the prints that were hung up for people to color on. I cut them up into standard postcard size, of course.

They were on nice card stock, perfect for altering.





My honey gave me his prints to cut up, too. Lucky me, so many cards to alter.

#208

But what I've really been busy with is KNITTING! I'm like a maniac with knitting. I have some of my fingerless gloves, mitts, at a lovely little shop called NEST. They've set up a gift shop within their gift shop, full of hand crafted items by local makers.

If you're in my area, check them out.  Lots of fabulous goodies, including my mitts, and special small art pieces by my honey.

 I'm also participating in a one-day Pop-up shop on 12.13.14 (I love writing that!)
It's at the home of Bad Girl Artist Keithley Pierce.
Check it out here.  There'll be art for sale, including my mitts, and stuff by lots of other makers. There'll be beverages and snacks, too. Come on over, if you're nearby,  and chat with the makers and buy gifts for yourself and others.

Here is some of the lovely yarn that I use and here are a couple photos of already sold mitts to give you an idea of what they look like.

Meanwhile, I've got to get back to knitting.

Hope to see you!

Now where were we? What's going on in my neighborhood?

 At the end of October, while the weather was still warm, we took the grand-girl for a walk to the museum. She pulled "pull-dog" to but fro she needed a lift in her stroller. The pull toy is a Keith Herring wolf sent to me by a friend in Germany a couple years ago. The grand really likes it a lot. She's wearing her favorite spider socks in her starry shoes, by the way.

The weather has changed dramatically due to the Polar something and we are not liking it. We don't have proper clothing for these temps, or shoes.

We're staying indoors this morning, not just because of the cold but because we are hemmed into our neighborhood by the annual Richmond Marathon!! I can walk a block or two in any direction and see people running.

My African Violets are in bloom. Lovely to see them in this chilly weather. A reminder of spring.

I received a box of yarn from my niece M for my birthday. I've been making finger-less mitts and caps out of it. Nice colors! I've been production knitting. I have a dozen pair in my favorite little gift shop NEST, and am participating in a one day pop-up shop mid-December. My wrists will need a rest after this.

 I received this leaf from NSW, Australia. It's an alteration of one of the cards in my Installation last month at the Nowra River Festival. So far, only this card has been returned to me.  We're planning another installation there in May with triple the number of postcards.

These are the cards that I made for Banana recognition day, which is this coming Monday. I'm not sure it's a real "holiday" but my buddies in the IUOMA celebrate by sending cards. This is my second year of participating.

It's fun to have a theme, right?


So this is what's going on these days since we last met up.


Oh and we can't end without a photo of our cat, Bizoo, right?

Slow Art Day and more

 Slow Art Day 2014 was terrific. 21 people showed up, including kids, and all seemed to enjoy it.

This is a painting by Jasper Johns.

 I was too distracted and happily excited to remember to take photos, so these lovely participants suggested that we restage some "looking" moments. The Lee Bontecou piece was intriguing.

I was happy with the five art works I chose and people said that they enjoyed seeing them, also.
Next year, April 11th. Put it on your calendar and join me, or any of the Slow Art Day events near where you live.

 Mail Art happens still, though not daily.

I've got a few of the little musicians left but am slowly finding the right cards to use them on.

My knitting class has ended for this session, but I'll join up again in June. I made these mitts using double pointed needles! I was wanting to learn how to use them.

This year, I plan to continue to knit through summer. In the past, I put it away until cool weather but it's so much fun learning new stuff.

By the way, I didn't create the pattern on these, the yarn did. Cool yarn!!  Do you knit?

My new forsythia bush.

It'll be green before long but I'm looking forward to next pring when it'll be yellow again. I love forsythia, the herald of spring.

What's your favorite spring plant/flower?

Mail Art time! + more

 Well, Blogger has stymied me again.
I wasn't able to figure out how to get the images in the order I wanted them, oh well.

Here's the ball of yarn that came in a hank.

I got it as my favorite yarn shop was going out of business and I was stocking up on yarn.

Here's what I'm making with it. A scarf! And I'm using a pattern that I wouldn't have tired had I not been taking a knitting class. I'm so excited that I've moved beyond mere knitting and pearling.














This is Jan, who's in my knitting class, spinning my hank into the ball for me. She's using devices called a swift and a winder. Someday I might get these. They sure speed things up.

 Oh the little drummer boy made a stop at Pulino's before it got filled up with diners. This way, he doesn't disturb anyone. (altered card using a vintage English scrap)

Here the little musician is entertaining the fish, or just finding a private spot to entertain herself.

I think Rosette has chosen a bad place to sell her flowers. Not much traffic. On the positive side, she has no competition.

Mail Art and more

 Here are a series of three new pieces of Mail Art.

I took out a small drawer of scraps and looked through it for some ideas.

 I found more film negative strips that had been my friend's and a large piece of card stock with 3 numbers on it.

This is the result and I"m quite pleased with my output. It's getting me back to some fundamentals of design.

And I like that.

 This was the view, looking up, from our bedroom window. Bleak! Really bleak!. The sky was so grey and our tree is so trimmed back. It's like a cartoon tree in some desert.

I thought it might snow, but it didn't. Snow is, however, predicted for Wednesday. We shall see.

I think the gloomy exterior prompted me to work with bright yarn. I finished up a pair of mitts with these colors today. Another satisfying project completed.

Mom is 100 today!

 
Today is my Mother's 100th birthday. 

Estelle has outlived her husband and all of her sisters.
She always said that she wanted to live to be 100 and she made it.

She was 18 in the photo upper left, and there she is with her parents and sisters. She was the oldest of the girls.

Here's Mom in 2008, she was seeing me off at the Van Nuys bus terminal where I was taking the bus to LAX to catch a flight home.  She's changed a bit from her 18 year old portrait but still smiling!








And here's mom in 2010, knitting scarves. She knit sooo many that we could hardly keep her in yarn. 

She knit, she sewed clothing, she was a voracious reader.

Here's one of my favorite childhood memories - I may have mentioned this before. We walked to the Legler branch of the Chicago library, which was only a little over a mile from our apartment, but to me, as a child it was so far away. To keep my attention on our goal,  my mother would say "we're going to get free books, isn't that wonderful?" And on the way back, with me carrying a couple of books under my arm, more in my sister's carriage, she'd say "Aren't we lucky, we've got free books to read?" Later, I'd walk by myself or with friends, always thinking how lucky I was to be able to have free books to read. And guess what? I'm a voracious reader, something that I've passed along to my own children. Thanks, Mom.

 

It's Wednesday! Midweek hooray!

 Hats for sale! Hats for sale! My sister makes lots of hats for little ones and hasn't any outlet for them. She sent a dozen to our grandgirl, who looks so cute in them. Now she's sent me a bunch which I'll put into my Etsy shop at some point. However, if you need a last minute gift for a baby, let me know, I've got hats galore.

Here are a pair of my mitts keeping Bad Girl Art's Keithley's hands warm. They're made from cotton and linen blend yarn. Oh, look, they kind of match her puppy!

 Chilly weather here, so tea time is anytime during the day. N gave me a lovely gift of a Tardis tea "ball." How cool. It's big enough to fill with tea for a pot but also works in a big mug with a smaller measure of tea. I love it! And that's my nice breakfast blend tea from Carytown Teas.

#349

I'm coming into the final stretch of my 365 project - can't believe it. A relief in so many ways, but hopefully my practice is well established and I'll carry on daily in my studio.

#350

In this series, I'm using old postage stamps to create scenes. Above, a landscape of a city with a bridge, airplanes overhead, and a bus headed for the bridge. In the one on the right, a family takes a walk in a city, visiting the sites.

#351

I'm totally not religious but what does one do with sooo many Madonna and Child stamps! Look, a Mary Cassatt painting in the center. I like this theme, it works so well. What do you think?

Brrrrr, so chilly here!

 We've made some new friends, the owners of NEST, where my honey will have an exhibit in February and currently has 3 pieces on preview.

My mitts are now for sale there, too. I've got to get busy knitting more with all the new yarn from my favorite yarn shop, now closed as of today. waaaa (me crying)

 Every day, I find Bizoo being places that I didn't know about, like IN the fern in the shower. The fern was going into winter mode and Bizoo was taking advantage of a nice outdoor experience while watching water go down the drain.

My friend, whom I call Prima because we share the same family name (with one letter difference,) is now the owner of MerryMaker. This is a shop where our kids used to spend their allowance money on Mrs. Grossman stickers! Here she is holding, for all you Harry Potter fans, a quill pen set. It's a fabulous set and she only has a couple left. Run over there and buy one. Very cool!

  Everytime I visit I find something I need, like Washi tape, notecards in Spanish, cool paper to make into Mail Art cards, and lots of things to just look at.

Stop in and say Hello, if you're in the area.

#346

#347

#348

Here are the series of cards that I made relating to the chilly weather this week. Brrrrr, that's what these cards say.











I used pen and ink with water, and then some rubber stamping to complete the composition.












Can't you just feel the chill?

More catching up.

 I love being by the ocean. I love the sound of the waves, the smell of the sea, the lines in the sand and the BIG sky. It's so peaceful and so immense, all of it.

 Last Saturday, I participated in a craft sale. Keithley of Bad Girl Art, invited 9 of us to participate at her home. It was such fun and quite successful. I sold more than half of the mitts that I brought with me. The two tiny hats in the photos are by my sister, who makes them out of cotton for babies. I haven't put anything back in my Etsy shop yet, as sales are brisk in face to face.

#341

More old rubber stamps. Kittens watching the rain clouds go by.

#342

I'd forgotten all about this beautiful "peace" stamp. I think I'll make a bunch more of these to send out for the New Year.

#343

Does this one look like ocean waves with moon and stars in the sky?

#344

Here's a sampling of some of my old cancellation stamps all in a clump. The card was askew on the scanner but I didn't fix it. Sort of more active looking this way.

#345

The triangle stamp is one that I never used as it was just too triangular and solid. However, it made a nice mountain background for this card. Don't you think so?