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Archive for the ‘This and that’ Category

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Satisfaction

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

illuminatedaspens

This is finished. I quite like it and I hope the new owner will like it. Should I send it to her now or enter it in a couple of shows? (heh) I think she has been waiting long enough. I used the blanket stitch on my Janome to stitch the aspens. I varied the width and length so that it wouldn’t look too matchy. Here is a detail. I think the stitching fits the overall design of the piece.

aspenlandscapedetail

I am feeling so much better and getting more energy every day. This morning I roasted some eggplant, Roma tomatoes and red onion to make a spread for a potluck dinner party tonight.

tomatoeggpantonion

roastedeggpanttomatoes

I also vacuum packed 8 pints of berries for the freezer – raspberries and blueberries.

One of  my biggest accomplishments was ironing all of my cotton and linen summer clothes. They were piling up on my dresser and I had nothing to wear, seriously.

Tonight we drove north over the Columbia river to Vancouver, WA to have dinner with friends from Trinity Cathedral. We set the GPS (Reva) to take us to our destination. She wanted to go on I-5; we wanted to take 205. She would not give up. We thought that once we got on 205, she would get a clue, but no. Fortunately, the GPS on my iPhone was more astute and so we followed those directions and got to our destination. Mr C and I were laughing hysterically by the time we got there.

I have a great idea for the Passion piece for the next 12 X 12 theme. I am going with the sexy interpretation, but tongue in cheek. Can’t wait to work on that. Then, I am going to have fun making a quilt for my great niece and I get to work with girly fabrics – can’ wait.

Hope you are having a good week-end, too.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, Cooking and Recipes, My creations, This and that | 13 Comments »

This and That

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

scootercute

A 5 month old puppy requires almost as much attention as a 5 month old child. Scooter is adjusting well to our household. He wants Maggie to play with him and she just isn’t into that – cranky old lady. He kept us up the first night. The second night I got the idea to have talk radio (progressive, of course) near his crate. At 3:30, he was howling again. The station had gone off the air so I found one on all night. Last night he was quiet all night long. He is learning to walk on a leash. Today, we had a good 45 minute aerobic walk. He loves to stop and say hi to other dogs which Maggie never has cared to do. We are working on the housebreaking. It requires someone to watch him at all times for visual cues that he needs to go. As I said, we are working on it. He is now playing with all of his toys and running up and down the basement stairs to hang out with me. I am his favorite person. I don’t know how he will take my leaving for almost 2 weeks. Here he is in the studio with me. He got an aok from the vet.

scooterinstudio

I can’t believe how fast this month is flying by. I leave for Kansas City in a week from Friday. I have a lot to do before then. Today, I did my thermofax test prints for Jane Dunnewold. She posted on the Complex Cloth list for volunteers who have a thermofax to do some prints using different paint spreaders, including one that she sent us. Here are my prints. I used red Versatex Acrylic printing ink on muslin.

First is the print made with the paint spreader sent by Jane. It was the best print, I have to admit. It is one of those plastic thingies for creating texture in paint, but we used the smooth edge.

janepaintspreaderprint

This is what I usually use on a small screen, a credit card. Not so good.

ccthermofaxprint

This is a Bondo spreader. It is thicker than the other paint spreader and was not as good.

bondothermofaxprint

A lot of people use a foam paint brush for the screens, this created very uneven printing.

foamrollerthermofaxprint

I went in to get my hair cut and the color back. I tried going gray and that was how I felt, gray and old. So, here I am, red again.

redisback

Tomorrow, I have STASH at Reva’s. M & M are getting to meet Scooter tomorrow, for the first time. I am sure it will be love at first sight.

Posted in Scooter, thermofax, This and that | 7 Comments »

A Scrappy Landscape

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

I really don’t know if I will get back to bona fide studio work until I am finished with my responsibilities at the SDA Conference at the end of this month. In the meantime, running into my studio for some scrap play, makes me happy. Tonight, I was feeling really tired. I had been at the computer most of yesterday and today, catching up on registration work and updating the SDA website. This afternoon, Mr C and I went down to Trinity Cathedral to help hang the Artists Among Us show, happening this week-end. I have no work in the show, been too busy!!

I watched Idol and voted several times for Adam. I wanted to just call it a night, but didn’t. I grabbed a piece of batting and went to work … er … play. The piece I picked up was long and narrow, about 2 and a half inches wide. Today, my friend Diane blogged about the Sonoma County landscape. I guess that was on my mind because I did this funky piece that is very reminiscent of the valley where we used to live.

scrap050509

A funny thing happened. I donated one of my scarves to the silent auction this week-end which will go to support the arts at Trinity. I took it in on Saturday and left it behind the stage in the hall where the shows are held. I thought I put it in the arts box, but I couldn’t find a light switch. Long story, short — they couldn’t find it. We looked and looked. It turns out there were some boxes of donations to the pantry that had been put back there. They had been removed at some point between Saturday and Monday evening. Steve and I then went to the pantry storage room and finally found it.

I know she is sound asleep in New York State, so I am going to wish my sister, Carole, a happy birthday when she wakes up tomorrow and checks in on the blog!!  Hippo Birdy, Sis.

Posted in Scrap art, This and that | 6 Comments »

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

First, the ugly —

migraine

I have had a debilitating sinus headache since Sunday afternoon. I am on a course of Claritin, Sudafed, Aleve, saline rinses and Afrin nasal spray. Nothing makes much of a dent. I have been working away, trying to ignore it.

noshiribbonsdetail

The bad — my quilt for the FAFC reverse auction is still waiting for a new owner. There are 7 beautiful pieces waiting for patrons to donate to the American Cancer Society to claim them. Click here for your chance!! Thursday you can get one for a real deal.

The good — I have finished my window  for the 12 X 12 challenge. It is not what I wanted to do. It is what I could do — all things considered.

This is what 20 plus yards of pfd fabric looks like after it has been torn into 2 yard pieces and scoured in the washing machine. I should have enough fabric to last for some time after the shibori class.

20ydsfabric

For some time, I have been thinking about going natural. Dyeing my hair is pricey and somewhat of a pain. With that decision, I have also decided to go quite short. Tomorrow, I am getting my hair cut short and so my gray is going to start showing. I can always change my mind, right?

Posted in 12X12 challenge, FAFC, This and that | 8 Comments »

This and That

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

It has been a good week-end. The house is clean. The Beef Bourguignon was delish. We had a wonderful dinner with friends last night. So what if it has been rainy. Spring sunshine can’t be that elusive.

I was going to take some photos of my cooking, but got too involved. I did get this photo of the beautiful flowers I had on the table. Ranunculus – one of my favorite – and another exotic spidery flower.

orangeflowers

I managed to get all of the new web stuff done for the SDA Conference. In addition to the great workshops, there are great lectures and demonstrations that are part of the conference.

On Thursday, a big box arrived while I was at STASH. I really want to open it and put it to use, but I have set a goal of catching up on all my SDA work first. This is what is in the box.

246157ll

I was perusing the Costco flyer the other day and this caught my eye. I am putting it in my little dye studio/kitchenette. Right now, I have a small folding table, covered with newspaper. This is going to be so much better and more storage for my dye equipment.

So, tomorrow, I plan to get back to the place where I am happiest. I will start with cleaning up the kitchenette for the new table.

Posted in studio, This and that | 4 Comments »

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