Something Saved

My last visit to the thrift store left a lump in my throat.  I found a baby blanket,

 beautifully sewn with love.   

The colors are soft subtles in every color of the rainbow. 

My name isn't Brittney and I don't have a Great aunt Connie,

 but I LOVE this blanket.  

It's been washed and joins me on my chair in the evenings.  

How sad that this wasn't stored away in a hope chest.  

It now is well loved and well used.

Thank you Great Aunt Connie!

Peace, 

Kay

My Dad's Art

My dad, fixer of all things.  Master piddler.  I remember when he made all our kitchen cabinets.  They took my 8th grade graduation picture with me standing in front of them!  I need to find that photo.

He's also an artist.  A very cool artist.  With amazing talent.  His choice of medium is oils.  Although he's piddled around in acrylics and pastels.  I'm lucky enough to have a few of his paintings.  
Here's most of what I have.

Love this adobe.  It's above my fireplace in the living room.

This one is in my dining room/craft room.

The only white walls in the house - in the bathroom!

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing weekend.  Have a great week ahead.  

Don't forget to breathe!

Peace,

Kay

Color Speak

I decided to go shopping a few weekends ago.  I always drop into Ross (a discount clothing and home store) and picked up this pot for some tulips.  

Then I ran in to Hobby Lobby and bought some paints.  It wasn't until I got home and laid everything out on the table did I realize -- look at this!

Do some colors speak to you?  

I have a new visitor at the bird feeders.  Look at that tail!!!

Peace,

Kay

WOYWW 142 - Back on the Table Again!!

The week before last I managed to visit every single blog that participated in WOYWW.   For those of you that have the word verification,  I couldn't leave comments on at least a dozen sites.  But I popped in, promise!  Last week was a different story -- I didn't link up and made it to only a few blogs.   The numbers have gotten so huge that I won't be able to visit everyone this week either.  I will do my best, but no promises....  If you don't know what this is all about  visit Julia at Stamping Ground to see all the participants.

Last week I had company so put away all my crafting supplies and we actually ate at the dining room table!  My company left Sunday and that meant that things started coming out of the closet!  Woo hoo.  Here's what my workdesk looks like now:

Don't you love a messy desk?!?

I've had so much fun making my She Art canvases.   I love every aspect of these -- mod podge, cutting up paper dresses, using rub-ons and doodling.   I find that I can start two canvases at a time and switch off working on them as the other is drying. 

A little something arrived in the mail.

A lovely card from Shaz in Oz -- thank you!  It's beautiful.

The elusive Katie.  She's a rescue from the local shelter.
She reminds me of a little fox.

The knitting is coming along slowly.  For some reason my hand goes numb after only a couple of rows.  This could be a result of a medical condition I have so I'm not pushing it.  Luckily I have plenty of time to finish up the blanket.  

Thanks for stopping by!  I read all comments and just love hearing from you.

Peace,

Kay

More She Art! I'm lovin' it!!

 I'm having so much fun making my she art canvases.  

Finally, I'm playing with mixed media.

I'm no longer afraid.

I'm a brave girl.

Love her pigtails!

The stars are slightly raised for a little dimension.  I added red glitter to her too.  

I will play around with my camera to see if I can get a better photo. 

I thought of my Tulip when I added the bird to her dress

The dots are actually brown and a burnt red color.  

For those among you that are observant, you may have noticed when I first chose my word for 2012 I spelled blossom wrong.  I just knew it didn't look right but didn't figure it out until a few weeks ago!

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.

Peace,

Kay  

Baby Blanket and Tulip

I'm almost done with the secret project - a baby blanket.  Two friends are having babies - one in May and one in June.  Luckily I have plenty of time!   Here's my progress so far.  I'm knitting this in seed stitch (seems like that's all I've done lately).

One more skein to go!

A friend is visiting from Arizona.  Tulip has taken a liking to her.  Why shouldn't she?  She's letting Tulip chew on her magazine!

Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you don't forget to take time to breathe!


Peace,
Kay

Mixed Media and You

I'm lovin' my she art!  I've been wanting to try mixed media for a long time now; was just afraid of jumping in.  Let me tell you, the water's fine!  If you've ever thought of trying it -- do!  It's so much fun.  You'll find lots of inspiration and the possibilities are endless.

This is my second she art piece.  I'm so happy with how she came out!  I love the colors.  I just noticed something -- I outlined the words with black (after I took my pics).  

What do you think?  

Peace,

Kay

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is the essence of God

Ralph Waldo Emerson

May you and yours have a wonderful day!

Peace,

Kay

Opening up to New Possibilities - Blossom

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

Thomas Merton

I've been lucky enough to have play time.

I've concentrated on my word for 2012 - Blossom.

I've expanded my creativity by making things I hadn't tried before.  

Here's some photos of what I've created.

One of my first ATCs.  I just love the little birdie on the HUGE egg!

Here's my first She Art girl.  I fell in love with the background.  First I layered a piece of orange tissue paper on the canvas using Mod Podge.  Then I added the blue paint, scrapping it with a credit card.   I used bubble wrap and stamped the yellow and red.  The doily is a stencil.  It's raised up a bit because of the modeling paste.  Love it.  Next came the girl.  At first I thought of using the same color scheme as the background for her dress.   This is what I ended up with.

She learned the lesson of creativity

I've really enjoyed taking photos.  I need to read about my camera and the different settings.  I've always been the kind of person that if it gets too technical (and I focus on that) then I don't enjoy the process as much.   

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a crafty day!!


Peace,
Kay

WOYWW - let's get inky!

It's Wednesday again!  I look forward to this day for so many reasons - over 100 easily!  The glue that holds us all together is Julia.   Visit her site at Stamping Ground to see all the participants.  You'll be amazed, inspired, and maybe you'll experience a wee bit of envy. 

I purchased some new stamps and am playing around with them.  Finally, I'm getting inky!  I've been making ATCs (for the first time).  I also am making some cards using one of the designs since I love it so much.   Let's see, what all is in this photo?  The beginnings of a card, my watercolor pencils over on the right (love these) and my markers in their great carrying case.  My trusty eraser and some iced tea.  On the floor on the left are canvases - on the bigger side so I'll save those  for down the road - they need to be stored away in one of my crafting closets.  That's BIG bubble wrap by the canvases that I'll use for something.... 

 

 Can you believe this mess!

Back on the desk - there's a pile of papers and rub-ons - my trusty cutter and my heating tool.  I tried to emboss the Santuario de Chimayo (back a few posts) stamp  but it just didn't come out.  There may be too much detail to the stamp.  I'm bummed.  Some of my 8 x 10 canvases ready for my She Art.  Oh, the timer that was on the lamp but quit working - needs to be put out with the trash.  Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have listed everything on my workdesk....

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing -- don't forget to

Thanks for visiting!
Peace,
Kay

Photo Group - Our First Meet

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust

The photo group is using Brenda Tharp's book Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography as a guide.  In the first chapter of the book Brenda talks about asking yourself questions.  For instance,  what do you find interesting in your subject?  How do you feel about your subject?  Some technical questions like how much depth of field do you want or need? What's the range of light?  Would a filter help?  At first I thought I'd like to play around in Photoshop and "enhance" my photos.  Now I've decided that I'm not interested in doing that.  I will use only the capabilities of my camera - that's it.  This will help me learn about my camera.  So far all I've done is point and shoot.    I'm happy with that.


I ran out to the Stable area in our town and took some pics.   I was hoping to see some new babies but there weren't any.  Maybe next time.

Love his crooked ear - it definitely adds character!

I love ravens

Taken at the Post Office

We meet this Thursday for a show and tell.  It'll be fun to see everyone's photos and what they are interested in.  


Peace,
Kay

A Nice Lazy Saturday!

We got snow last night; maybe five inches or so.  I planned on doing some crafts this weekend and with the snow, it worked out quite well!  

Here's one of the bird feeders in my backyard.

Dog tracks

Now, for the crafts.  I've been making ATCs for the first time.  I signed up for an ATC swap so need to make twenty.  I finished them and I'm overall pretty happy with them.  

Here's one

I stamped the image and then cut around the edge.  I colored the image using both watercolor pencils and markers.  The poppies, sky, house and the grass by the trees is watercolors.  The green background where the poppies are is a marker, along with the trees and the roof.   I then got a green piece of paper and cut around it; wrapped a bit of twine around that and then stuck it to the red card stock.  


I don't want to show the others; if you're participating I don't want to spoil the surprise!  Tomorrow I'm planning to do some mixed media canvases from the She Art Workshop that I've signed up for.  Housework is on hold for now!!!!


I hope you are having a great weekend!!

A Stop at the Local Rubber Stamp Store

I want to thank everyone that has signed up to be a follower on my blog.  I am tickled pink!!  I hope not to disappoint!  If there's something that you'd like to see more of please let me know.  

I read ALL comments!

  While in Santa Fe a few weeks ago I ordered a stamp from Guadalupes Fun Rubber Stamps store.  They called me and my stamp has arrived.  Well, I couldn't walk out with just one stamp, could I?  Here's my newly acquired treats.

I have a VW convertible -- love......

The bird sitting on the egg is the stamp I ordered.

Santuario de Chimayo

Too cute little donkey!!!

I can't wait to get inky!
Happy Crafting.