In its December 2003 issue, Bead & Button magazine featured the work of Sherry Serafini, a wonderful bead artist who specializes in THE most fabulous beaded accessories. Included with the article was the instructions for making a bead embroidered collar in her style. Of course I had to try one of my own.

My version features six small amethyst cabochons accented by various other small stones, pearls, and seed beads. It is more decidedly blue and purple than this photo shows. The actual embroidery went quickly -- I couldn't put it down! -- but my enthusiasm waned when I got to where I had to finish off the edges. The collar was set aside until such time as I could face such a tedious task.


Last week I decided to clean off my beading desk. Heaven knows it needed it, as I could no longer work there for the debris scattered over the entire surface. As I excavated the mess, I rediscovered several old projects that are worth completing, one of them being this collar. I put on a movie and decided to tackle that darned edge finish.

It actually took about 5 movies to complete the task, bead-by-stitch-by-bead, but last night I finished it, and now it's ready for the fun part... the fringe! I have been playing with combinations of beads and stones that might work, and I'm just about ready to thread up and get started, while sitting at my neat and tidy bead desk.

Do you think I can keep it that way? It's SO much more pleasant to work there, now that it's not such a disaster area.

Enticing my Muse

I suppose by now I ought to have stopped being surprised by my inability to stick to a plan... This project was supposed to be a simple piece, a "quick and easy" just to get me in the mood to create again. I guess I was more in the mood than I thought!

"The Peacock" is a wall doll is based on "Enticing the Muse", a pattern I found on the internet. I expected she would be a piece of cake, a 2 day project at most, as the original doll had no face, mitten hands, and very little embellishment. I chose a remnant of my one of my favorite quilting cottons and made the little mini-quilt for her body, adding the fine binding just because I could. I even remembered how to turn the little mitered corners. I guess quilting might be a little like bike riding... you don't forget what your fingers have learned.

Once having created such a pretty little quilt, I HAD to give her fingers and a face. What good is a muse if she can't look you in the eye??

Because I still believed I was just messing around, I decided to attempt something different for her face. Using Sherry Goshon's face painting book, I followed the instructions to create a face with African American features. I see by the photo that I need to darken and shadows and punch up the highlights, but all in all I am happy with her. One of these days though, I will learn to resist the temptation to keep making the eyes bigger and bigger and bigger...

Then I got out my beads. And some more beads. And then yet more beads. Finally, with the addition of the wrapped wire wristlets, she looked balanced and complete, which is good because my eyes have had enough of threading the miniscule hole of that oh-so-fine beading needle!

Getting it Right at Last

I have been on a baking binge since I returning home from my mother's funeral. My baking is usually successful, so I was surprised as well as frustrated when my attempts at creating a sour dough starter were spectacular failures. One attempt resulted in a lovely bowl of mold, but no sourdough...

On the 4th try, I used the instructions from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking, and was rewarded with a nice crock of fragrant, bubbly, yeasty sour dough starter.

And so today I was at last able to bake sourdough from my own starter. Don't you wish you could smell these loaves, hot from the oven as they are??

An exercise in observation

Isn't she darling??! This is my version of "Ruby" a new pattern by Judi Wellnitz. Her headband will be much more dramatic once the glue dries, and she still needs a necklace, but I am delighted with her. (I know I probably should have let the glue dry before taking pictures of her, but I was anxious to get this posted this afternoon before I head off to church tonight for music rehearsals.)

Judi graciously allowed me to be a tester for the pattern in return for feedback before final publication. She was tons of fun to make and every piece fit together perfectly. The hardest part was being a faithful follower of Judi's directions... I kept having to remind myself to not just go and do things with my own methods. It all comes out the same in the end, but reading every last word before getting there slowed things down just a bit.

If I do the Holiday Bazaar again this fall, I absolutely will use her to display my business cards. She will certainly garner attention!

Ready to Mail

He's done, but oh the headaches he gave me in the process! I have never ever worked this small before, and I'm not sure I will again. My fingers just don't like working that way.

I am not at all happy with the way his hands and fingers turned out. I eventually had to resort to a "mitten" style of hand to make any indication of fingers at all. Honestly, I don't know how the people who make the eeny teeny stuff that sells on eBay do it. Trade secret I guess...

Fortunately, the figure I am making for myself is on a much larger scale, and also female, with NO horn. (Another detail on the swap piece that gave me FITS!) I hope to get started sculpting on her this afternoon -- I just need to wait for the apoxie armature to get a little harder.

I want to try a different wing method too. I've been collecting wing tutorials from the internet for a long time I think now would be a good time to play with some new ways of doing things.

Now I just need to pack him securely and pop him in the mail and my swap obligations are done until I receive the next installment in my round robin. It feels SO good to be making things again!

Life Goes On

My Mom died late in the evening on Sunday, March 4, 2007. I have never known life without her, and I sit here now facing the giant hole in my world that was once filled by her presence, that no one will ever again be able to fill.

I don't grieve for HER, but for myself, for having to face the rest of my time here on Earth without her. I am almost sorry that it won't hurt so much as time goes by... it seems disloyal somehow. I know that her pain is over and that she is now in Glory with her Lord, but... I miss her. I will always miss her. It was for her eyes that I began these pages, and I always chose my words as if I were writing to her. I know she always read them, even though she never would post a comment, even when I begged. She was shy of computers that way.

On the other hand, it is good to feel Joy returning to my life as the weeks go by. To be honest, I have gotten bored with being sad and I am pretty sure Mom wouldn't approve of prolonged moping either.

The totally unexpected difficulty is that, while I want to *want* to do something, I can't think of anything that I really want to do. I haven't forgotten her portrait, but I don't think I'm up to facing that project quite yet.

Who says the Lord doesn't provide, however...

My very dear daughter-in-law came to visit us this weekend (DS is still at sea for another month or so with the Navy) and she brought along a project for me to consult on. She had an old dress that she wanted to convert into a costume suitable for wearing to the Renaissance Faires in her area this summer. Bless her -- neither one of us knew it at the time, (I don't *think* she planned it anyway...) but that was exactly the medicine I needed.

I hope she doesn't hate me for posting this picture -- she had just gotten out of the shower and I didn't even let the poor girl comb her hair! My fault entirely!! -- but I need to show off how pretty the dress turned out, and how wonderfully she wears it.

There is no way we were ever going to match the color of the original fabric, so we opted for a blending shade, and I think (not so humble opinion time!) it turned out even better that way. The green and the blue compliment each other beautifully, and the trims tie everything together so it looks as if it were designed to be this way from scratch.

I'm afraid that I did rather take over the whole project, but I did "let" her do all the basting and hemming, LOL!

I look forward to hearing DS's opinion. Perhaps when he sees how beautiful she is, he will agree to a costume of his own. He is completely unyielding on the subject of wearing the tights required for a man's Renaissance costume. Imagine that!

A Spring Sculpt

Remember the little head I posted a week or so ago? In an effort to stay busy and not think about flying through a blizzard tomorrow, I have begun to give it a form. The little fey face is so charming, but I just couldn't imagine what to do about that horn...


He finally told me that he wanted to be a Dragonfly. Oh yes, I can DO that!
His torso was pretty easy to sculpt. I used a blend of ProSculpt Light and Cernit, which is a BREEZE to work with. Now that I see a photo though, I wish I had made him just a little slimmer.

I am especially proud of the muscle definition in his back. I can actually *see* his traps and lats flexing as he pulls his arms back. Thank goodness for anatomy books for artists! You can't really tell from the photo, but he also have a very cute little butt.

The coloring in his tail is made of slices of a cane of Premo Sculpey in green pearl, blue pearl, pearl, black, and blue. I covered it with Pearl-Ex when it was finished, but now I'm kind of sorry I did that. You can't see the detail of the cane slices very well any more. Oh well, I'll know better next time.

The finial on the end of his tail is made of Swarovski crystals.

When he is finished he will also have a lovely set of wings made of Fantasy Film, microbeads, and art glitter. Oh, yes, and also a left hand and a completed hairstyle. I'm not sure what to do about painting his face OR his horn. Ack... decisions, decisions! I'll think about those parts when I get to them!

I have another head in the studio that wants to be a female version of the same figure. I think with her I will try to do a red dragonfly though. I found a photo of one on the 'net when I was researching dragonfly tail shapes and they are gorgeous! I already have her wings started...

And finally, I want to send thanks to everyone for the prayers and well wishes they have lavished on me and my family as we face my mother's final illness. I can't express how comforting your thoughtful notes have been this past week. I am flying home to be with her tomorrow, and ask that you continue to pray for me as the weather reports are not looking so good! Oh well, whatever will happen is going to happen and I will just have to cope with it. But I really DON'T want to get stuck in an airport in a blizzard!

For Mama, with Love

I haven't had the heart to create much recently. I received word last week that, after a long and bitter struggle, my dear mother is losing her fight against cancer. I will be flying home to Iowa on Friday to be with her for a few days. I don't know what to think or how to feel... my world is upside down right now.

I was flipping through some old photos on the computer this morning, and I pulled these up to look at, just because she is so beautiful and alive in them. Just look at that center photo -- it was taken only 5 months after I was born. I never ever looked that good after the babies came. She is fabulous!

This is how I want to remember her. She is a wonderful mother.

Another Round Robin

Some members of Fabric Doll Art, one of my favorite internet chat groups, have begun a round robin of cookbooks. Each participant is to create a book and choose a theme and send it on it's way to eachother. I need another project like I need a hole in my head, but this one sounded like too much fun to pass up. I LOVE to cook, and especially to collect recipes. :-)

Paper art has NOT been my "thing" in the past. I have lots of paper and stamps and glue and things, but I just haven't really developed the knack of putting them all together in a pleasing way. Sigh... I only hope I don't mess up anyone's book!

This is Sherry Goshon's book. Her theme is coffee. For the first page I painted a coffee cup and journaled a little about coffee, then glued it all down onto a pre-painted page. It's too bad the fiber embellishments don't show up better. They're very pretty.

This 2 page spread holds the actual recipes. They are printed on card stock and stitched onto decorative paper for a mat. I love the little coffee stamp on the bottom of the left hand page. It still needed something, so I added a little more of the fibers and some shell buttons. It's not as nice as some of the things I see in the magazines, but I'm not ashamed of it.

One Down, One more to go

Here she is, painted and ready to go in the mail. This is the last doll I have to work on in this exchange for a while. The person who mails to me hasn't started on the one in her possession yet, so I am all caught up.

I had SO much fun with this Round Robin doll. I love the concept and I can't wait to get started on a similar one of my own. I found the torso I wanted... Unfortunately it doesn't have a head so I'll either have to sew one up or sculpt one before I can get started.

I'm also thinking I'd like a quieter color scheme. I like the "wine country" look of these colors, but I have used them before and I'm ready to try something new. I have a tube of paint in "Champagne Gold" that is calling to me. It's a much more muted shade of gold that will let other colors play along without being SUCH a presence.

This little (LITTLE!) head came to me in a swap on my Fantasy Fins and Fairies group. It will be my job to make a body for it, finish it and then send it back to its creator. My original reaction to the face was "female", but looking at this photo, now I'm not so sure. I'll have to think about this one some more.

What do you think... a "Pan" character perhaps?

Start to (almost!) Finish!

So close... So VERY close. It is agonizing to not be able to call her "finished" for good and all, but I just don't have anything to put in the nest in her hands. I plan on making a tour of the craft shops this weekend. Otherwise I think I might try sculpting something. I WILL complete a project from start to finish without deviating. It's become a point of honor now, LOL!

I used microbeads to blend the leaves into the fabric of her branches. I LOVE microbeads, even though the little monsters have a life of their own and bounce all over my studio.

I added a draping of seed beads to her throat and shoulders, just because those areas seemed so bare.

She was worth everything it took to bring her into being!


This is my latest Round Robin challenge. She came to me as a torso plopped into a Crown of Thorns gourd... I have pretty much given up on receiving anything "expected" from the ladies in this group. What a superb collection of imaginative artists! I am honored to have been included.

Anyway, she spoke to me of meadow flowers, so I set out to put her in her meadow. (There is NO WAY legs were going to work on this lovely.) The wire cage base was made using instructions if a recent Art Doll Quarterly Magazine. The apoxie embellishments are drawn from my trusty stock of Jean Bernard tricks. I used up the last of my stock of Apoxie on this project -- I will have to order some more. It is way too much fun to create with to be without!

I desperately wanted something original to me to be a part of my addition, so the bead dangles finishing the tips of the gourd are from my own imagination.

A coat (or 3 or 7!) of paint, and she will be ready to mail.

Facing Reality

I didn't have much time to play this weekend, but I used what I had to assemble the pieces and apply the "roots" to my Tree Spirit doll. She is turning out so well that I am almost afraid to proceed with the embellishments. Oh, and how often hasn't THAT happened before??

As I ran head-on into that thought, I recognized that this has been my stumbling block for much to long. I am determined to have more faith in my own abilities and not let fear keep me from achieving my goals anymore.

It is time to face the music, time to assemble in one place all my unfinished dolls and decide what to do next. I've been very faithful in following through on my resolution to work my way through the pile, but I really needed to face the music and see EXACTLY how many more I have to tackle...

... and as you can see, it is still a big undertaking. Sigh...

But now I KNOW.

One at a time Judi, just take them on one at a time.

Studio Show 'n Tell

One of my online groups is sharing photos of sewing rooms and studios. I am blessed with an enormous space to call my studio, but 25 years of collecting books, beads, fabric, etc has filled it up. It has looked worse, and it has looked better. This is pretty much normal.

It's an oddly shaped shaped space -- the front part used to be this old farm house's master bedroom. The farther space used to be a back porch. It still has a noticable slope to the floor, which is why I don't set up my machine in there, even though it would make more sense. That slope makes me crazy if I stand on it too long.


My storage closet is to the right as we walk in the door. It's really more of nook than a closet. I use it to store books and patterns.

Turning to the left you see my sewing machine. My computer desk is directly behind me as I am taking this photo.

Walking past the divider wall we come to my cutting table. My fabric stash is in another nook space out of the picture to the right.


And scanning back to the left we see my ironing board, warping board, and dress form.

At the back wall is a built in desk where I keep my beads, stamps, and other miscellaneous supplies. I've been trying to organize my beads lately, so the beading space is a little messier than usual.

If anyone has a good idea of how to organize beads, let me know. My "system" isn't much of a system I'm afraid.

Whom the Gods Would Destroy...

...they first make mad. Or, sometimes the madness is self-inflicted, LOL! Can you count how many "fingers" I had to turn to make the pieces of this tree spirit doll? ("Rock-A-Bye Baby", by Christine Shively) By my reckoning, it was 96. The pattern did warn right in the beginning of the instructions that this is a fiddly project that required a significant time committment...

Fortunately, I needed something portable and fairly brain-free to take to meetings last week. And now I feel like the guy in the old Alka-Seltzer ad -- I can't believe I made the whole thing!

Actually, I still have to make the head and paint the face, oh yes, and apply the leaves... I guess I do still have a ways to go yet.

This little guy came together one morning last week when I got to be a pattern tester, following the instructions from a tutorial by Cam of Thornwoodhollow. Now I just have to decide who he is going to be. I am thinking that he would make a good gardener from "Alice in Wonderland". You know, the little people who were really a deck of playing cards and were trying so hard to paint the roses before the Queen of Hearts would find out and "Off with their heads!" I need to get to the library and find an original copy of the illustrated "Alice". The only images I can find online are the Disney version, and that's not what I want.

It was fun to pull the clay out again. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit I can play with it without having to work so hard to get it to where I can sculpt it. Even though it's still only February and feels like it, compared to the last few weeks, it's almost as if spring is already here!

Meet Valentine

Meet Valentine, my newest mascot. He was begun in an online class by Alison Marano in 2003, and completed just this morning. Actually, it isn't quite accurate to call him a Un-Finished Object, as the only original piece of him I was able to find was a single ear... Once I tracked down the origins of the ear however, I had to make the rest of him.

And hey! the ear is no longer under my cutting table. One more UFO completed!

It isn't often that a project comes together without a hitch, but this one came close. OK, well I *wanted* him to be blue, but no, the blues I picked out for him just didn't suit him. So, red/orange/fuschia it is.

This is also the first time I am completely satisified with a needle-sculpted head. My bio-rhythms (remember them?) must be in a good alignment or something.

Thanks, Alison, for a wonderful pattern.

Out From Under

Jake is in Seattle today, appearing at a meeting of the Board of Directors of our farm's Co-Op to speak on a matter of vital importance to the future of our business. I wish it hadn't come to this -- farming is hard enough without having to engage in political battles as well -- but I am so proud of him for being willing to stand up and fight for us.

In the meantime, I am home alone and not good for very much. In a fit of pure nervous energy, I sat down at my beading table, threaded up a new needle and got to work. I was determined to finish this doll TODAY, come heck or high water! No matter what happens in Seattle, something good was going to happen here today, LOL!

I started at 8:00 this morning and finished about 5:30 p.m. I am TIRED and my eyes are crossing, but she is finished at last. And isn't she just something else! She has emerged from under the cutting table and blossomed into full-blown reality. I am satisfied with this doll as I seldom ever am upon completing a project. I new I could do it; it's just that the end result is so far beyond my expectations that I am almost dizzy. So much for my sneering at sequins. I never will again!

Unfortunately, she is too big to fit in my little light tent, so I had to make do with a flash photo on the kitchen table. Sigh... she really deserves better! Anyway, here's a close up that give a little better view of some of the detail.

For my next trick, I will attempt something easier, like maybe brain surgery. On myself!

Dogged Determination

I shouldn't be surprised by how long this doll is taking to make-- I never have the least clue as to how much time ANY of my projects are going to take. But this one is off even my scale. Oh my!

I thought I could dedicate Sunday afternoon to the creation of her wings. Wrong! Here it is Tuesday and I have just finished them. I estimate that there are 14 hours of effort pictured here.

Her headpiece is all that is left now.

I WILL finish this doll!

Wrestling with Issues

A long time ago, I began this doll in a class on Doll Street called "Asphidistra Flying" by Pearl Red Moon.

I got exactly this far before completely freaking out over the level of detail required to finish her, and quit. Had you asked me at the time, I would have told you that I had grown bored with her and it was time to move on to something else "for a little while..."

That "little while" has now been nearly 5 years. Meanwhile, she has sat patiently under my cutting table waiting for me to get un-bored (or braver!) and get back to work on her.

Both of my girls are now back in school after their little weather-induced mini-vacation, the daylight bulbs continue to work their magic on my energy levels -- if only we had had them years ago! -- and I have no money left to play with since we came home from Hawaii and can't afford to start anything new. I AM going to attack that pile of UFO's under the cutting table!

I paid all my bills and cleaned house Friday morning to give me NO excuses to shirk this work. The level of fear I experienced going back to revisit this doll really surprised me. On the other hand, the level of detailed information in this pattern is HUGE. I shouldn't be surprised that, being unprepared for it, I found it a little overwhelming.

It took me all afternoon -- over 4 1/2 hours -- but I did it. I created the textile for her dress and got it on her. Triumph!

Amazingly, I found the process to be almost hypnotic. I think I may have discovered another technique that I really really like DOING. The process itself that is, not just the end result.

This morning I finished the butterfly embellishment for the front of her dress and the beaded dangle that hangs from it. The camera flash has pretty much washed out the color of the beads, which is too bad because they gleam beautifully in and through the "petals" of her skirt.

I freely confess that I am blogging right now in order to stall for just a little longer before going back to work on her. The next step will be her wings, which involve lots more beading, and still more new techniques. Same for her headdress, but I am not even going to begin to think about that part yet...

I tell you, if I survive the challenge of making this doll, I will believe I can do anything. As a rule I enjoy learning new techniques, but all at once is becoming exhausting.

Instant (sort of...) Gratification

I had planned on working on 3 more half finished dolls this week -- 2 from Li Hertzi patterns that just need to have the embroidery finished, and one big one by Pearl Moon tht I finally feel brave enough to tackle. (Anyone who has made her "Asphidistra Flying" pattern will know what I am referring to!)

However...

We have had a spell of spectacularly nasty weather here in the Northwest this week. Both of my DD's have been home from school since last Thursday, and I just haven't been able to achieve that state of UNINTERRUPTED concentration I need to work on something new and fairly complicated. I decided to dig out some my sunniest scraps and "whip up" something simple and pretty and cheerful.








This is elinor peace bailey's "Keeper of Memories" reduced to 75% of original size. She is about 6 inches tall. Her flesh and the lining of her skirt are kool-aid dyed silk charmeuse, her body is silk duipioni, and her hair is the last of some spectacular "mermaid" colored mohair. (I must find some more of that stuff!) I had intended to finish her in an afternoon, but as usual, I got a little carried away.

It was so much fun and SO satisfying to make a doll of this kind again. It passed what might otherwise have been a long afternoon, and really revved my creative engines. I think I am really FINALLY ready to attempt to tackle "Asphidistra's" costume!

More finished objects!

Now that the holidays are over I am out of excuses for putting off my Round Robin committments, so I have devoted myself to getting them done this week.

This lovely by Jan Demetralis is constructed on a jigsaw puzzle piece. She posed quite a "puzzling" challenge for me. (Sorry, that's a dreadful pun, I know, but I couldn't resist!) WHAT was I going to do with her??!! I confess that I was a little unsure if any kind of pattern had been laid down for her -- her face is so beautifully realistic, her lower body somewhat less so, and her torso is like something out of a surrealist painting...

This IS an "anything goes" project however, so I decided to just let it percolate in the back of my mind for a while...

An idea broke through while we were on vacation. I decided that the little extensions that I had originally seen as sort of proto-arms would now become the shoulder pieces of a fabulous coutour gown (though someone else is going to have to create said gown...) and I would give her arms from the area where I visualized her shoulders "should" be.

Really though, are there any real "shoulds" on a doll like this??!!

The arm construction I used was designed by Pearl Red Moon for her "Ancient Icons" series of dolls. The upper arm, lower arm, and hand are each sewn and stuffed seperately of kool-aid dyed silk charmeuse, then joined together with bead joints. The fingers on each hand are made of bugle beads tipped with seed beads.

Speaking of the "Ancient Icons", I was motivated by working on Jan's doll to finish my own little objects. They've been sitting under my work table for... well, the lessons are dated March of 2002, so let's just call it a long time!

All the green one needed was her yarn hairpiece. The first one I made was way too bulky for her. This one is still a bit bulky, but I like the look.

The red one... now that I look at the photo I don't think I'm quite finished with her yet. I think she needs something more around her face. Perhaps some draping after the same manner as the green one. I'll think about it...

I am particularly proud of her pants. The first pair I made for her were simply dreadful. I didn't know anything about machine embroidery back then and didn't use a stabilizer under the fabric and ended up with a mess. This time I created a base "fabric" of fusible Angelina fibers, backed it with some water soluble stabilizer, and embroidered it with some simple machine stitching over silk ribbons. They look fantastic in real life, though you can't see much in the photo. Sorry for the focus issues -- no idea what went wrong there and I'm too lazy to go back downstairs and take another one. I'll post another better pic after I do some more beading on her.

Getting There...

In between getting my end-of-the-year tax prep paperwork done, hanging out in the repair shop while some recall work was done on my Jeep, and running ordinary errands, I haven't found much time to work on projects yet this week. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It is all good and necessary stuff that I do, but alas, not very much fun at all. Fortunately, this little wall project is highly portable, especially now that I have finished the machine work.


I added a border of freely cut turquoise squares, some machine stitching to hold them down, and then added some funky yarn in spirals on the leftover yellow bits. I especially like the true red binding -- it holds it all together nicely.

NOW the fun begins... beads! I found these big red glass squares at Michael's last week. They have a sort of dichroic effect that makes them shimmer on the inside with a touch of gold. I don't know if they really are dichro or not, but they are pretty cool. A little heavy, but the canvas backing on this piece seems to be supporting the weight pretty well. Another evening of handwork and it should be finished and ready to mail.

I am cutting my computer time short this morning and I am going to go PAINT, before yet another interruption rears its ugly head. In the meantime, take a look at this photo. This little hawk (not a red-tail) has been hanging around the yard for a while now. Yesterday he was sitting on the fence holding his wings out like a young lady in a full curtsy to the queen... He flew away just fine after about 5 minutes or so, so I don't think he is injured. Anyone have any idea what the heck he's doing??

A burst of energy

I have been on an absolute rampage of activity in my studio since we got home. It is most unusual for me to be so productive so deep into winter. Perhaps a few days of tropical sun has been good for me, LOL!

I spent a few hours this morning doing the free-motion stitching on the wall hanging. (It measures
12 1/2" square, by the way.) While the stitching went well, I had problems with the pieces of background fabric lifting while I was working. I am NOT happy with this particular brand of fusible... it didn't fuse worth a hoot. Fortunately the stitching will hold everything in place by the time it's all done. Still... GRRRRRRR!



The next step will be to add borders, and THEN I can begin adding the embellishments (rubbing hands and giggling maniacally...!) I had to go to Michael's today, so while I was there I picked up the beads you see scattered around the flowers, and some yarn that I'm not sure what I am going to do with, but it just blends so perfectly. I didn't really want to spend any more money on this piece, but the beads were *too perfect* and I couldn't pass them by. Sigh... This is why I will never be rich...

Hmmm... I also see that the detail stitching in the stems needs to be much more visible. How did I ever design anything before I could check my work with a camera??

My dear friend Kai asked about my painting...

Here you go Kai. This is what I have so far. (I did this much just before we left to go on vacation.) I wanted good dark outlines in the underpainting so that, as I add layers of color, I don't lose my drawing. This is where I stopped to let it dry.

My next step will be to correct the shape of her shoulder and ribs on the right side, and to begin to add a foundation color. Mid-range flesh tones for the skin, and local color for her shirt and pants.

I have NO clue as to what I'm going to do about the kitten. I think I need to read up on how to paint fur...

Aiming for "Country French"

This is the first stage of a wall piece I am working on using the instructions from the latest issue of Quilting Arts magazine. My color scheme is based on a piece of "Country French" style fabric. I think I need a little more red, but I'm happy with the design so far. So far, so good!

The image is abstracted from a photo of a vase of gerbera daisies -- cutting out each individual blossom took me all afternoon! Thankfully, I had the whole house to myself today, and all the housework and bills caught up, so I had freedom to really play.

The next step will be to add free-motion machine stitching. That's going to be fun, but will have to wait until tomorrow. My back and eyes aren't up for any more close work today.

Aloha... and so glad to be HOME!

Our family's Christmas gift this year was a biggie -- 8 days in Hawaii! We last took a "real" vacation in 1996. It's not easy to make all the arrangements to get away from the farm, but this year is Lydia's senior year in high school, so a family vacation has become a sort of "now or never" thing. I'm so glad we decided on Now!

These photos are all from my digital camera. I also shot 7 rolls of film with my 35mm too, which I am now waiting to get back from the developer. Talk about anticipation! I'll post some of those another time if any of them turn out.


Christmas in Hawaii is a long step away from our traditions! We spent Christmas Eve in Waikiki beach and simply basked in the warm tropical breezes when we weren't body surfing in the waves. I took along a big fat book and actually found some time to read it!



This fellow was selling surfing lessons on our beach. He seemed to be doing good business too. I HAD to have a photo of him, because I will probably never see anybody like him on Christmas Eve ever again, LOL. The pigeon was just a lucky bit of good timing.

Our hotel room was nice, though small for 4 people. We all spent a lot of time on our little balcony just looking and looking. We could see a little slice of the ocean to the left, a big swath of *very* upscale shopping directly in front, and to the right was a residential area that swept up the side of a mountain. It was particularly impressive at night, when everything was lit up for the evening.


I still say the Christmas lights felt weird. I know they celebrate Christmas in Hawaii too, but it should be cold when the lights go up. I guess my world is a little small...


My favorite day was when we took a guided kayak tour. It was BIG fun, even though Jake and I capsized our kayak 3 times. We got the hang of it in the end though.


It took a little over an hour to paddle out to our first stop, the little island in the photo below. It has been set aside as a bird sanctuary, but all the birds are away this time of year. Our guide explained the geological history of the islands, and pointed out some of the things in the tide pools one wouldn't ordinarily notice, this little sea urchin for one...

Our next stop was back to another beach on Oahu for some snorkling. OH! How I WISH I had a camera capable of going in the water! I saw puffer fish, angel fish, parrot fish, clown fish, and TURTLES. I loved the turtles. No eels or sharks though. It would have been so cool to see some of those, but I didn't dare swim out too far. Isn't that water beautiful? So very different from the grey and choppy surface of the Pacific here on the coast of Oregon.

I'm throwing in one last photo for Lydia's sake. We had lunch at Planet Hollywood one day, and she was thrilled to death to see this sign on the wall and so of course I had to take her picture in front of it. My dear daughter is a HUGE fan of dinosaurs in general and the "Jurassic Park" movies in particular. (Her nickname at school is "Dino Girl", if that tells you anything, LOL!)



It's not the best photo I have ever taken, but she is very happy with it and wants a big printout for her scrapbook. Sigh... On the other hand, it's not often this easy to thrill a teenager, so I guess I should be happy!