Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Just had to share this adorable pot of Rolos gold at the end of a Skittles rainbow.

This is a leprechaun trap! The gold, glittery stuff lures them in and boom, their foot will be caught in the white pipe-cleaner loop. Ingenious, no? Our kids set out salt water taffy to lure them :)

Have a super lucky, four-leaf clover kind of day!!

Cheers to You

Cheers to you, tonight... as new year's eve draws closer and the old year is closing in. I hope you all are taking in every breath of the season and enjoying yourselves as we are in our house.

I have many hopes and dreams for the new year... some will come to fruition, others... not sure I have the will or strength for it but am still up for the challenge! I won't bother sharing my specific new years resolutions, but hope you will take the leap and realize yours in the coming year as I strive to realize mine :)

A very happy and healthy new year, 2012 to one and all!

Alpine Christmas

Outdoor beer garden... Edelweiss flowers painted to the right!

Town Christmas tree... sorry for the blur

Nordic skier of times past

We took a quick jaunt to a lovely little town called Leavenworth, WA. It was in the height of Christmas and oh so beautiful. It was patterned after a Bavarian Alps village in the 1960s and has a few ski areas close by.

I'll share more night scenes soon... not sure if I'll be posting here before the new year or not. Either way, have a wonderful holiday! (I'm off to plan my Christmas dinner shopping list- an old fashioned English Christmas this year... roast beef with Yorkshire pudding... trimmings and trifle for dessert! - with the help of my mom, of course - she's the real cook around here.)

November Comes Creeping in...

Halloween was such a whirlwind this year... parties all day at school, ballet with more Halloween fun and of course - trick or treating. I'm still coming down from all the hoopla :)

Today is snow tire day. After several years with the 'all weather' tires, and many slips/slides and near accidents, this year will be different! Hopefully they will keep me mobile, therefore keeping the winter blues at bay for a bit longer.

I've got a few things to share this week... knitting, ornaments and new woodcuts. Stay tuned!

Bathroom Paint Job... in progress

Here was most of my labor day weekend... workin' in the 'can' :) Most of the new, darker color is done... it's Restoration's 'Cappuccino'. The trim will be a nice, lighter yet warm shade: 'Warm Linen". I won't be doing the trim, cabinet and sink area til next weekend.

I must say, it was hard to tape all the fixtures, ceiling, window etc. Plus, having the bathroom taken apart is so difficult when there are small children in the house. They can't help but 'assist' with the paint roller while I'm making dinner. My last paint project was in 2006 when I painted our daughter's room - whilst 9 months pregnant. From what I remember, that project was easier since no one had a reason to be in there :) Will be glad when it's done. "After" photos to come!

Happy hump day.

Naughty Knightley at it Again

Ringing in our youngest member of the family's birth month... the naughty Knitghtley is at the pet emergency hospital. He must have swallowed a rock or some foreign body a few days ago and now has a major problem. He'll be spending the big 4th of July weekend as an inpatient.. hopefully passing the 2 objects in his intestines so he can avoid a second surgery for this very problem.
Please, if you have time, say a little prayer for our Mr. Knightley... he'll be 2 years old on July 22nd if he can get past this current crisis. Why is it some pets (and people) are just born to get into trouble?! I'll update you on his status before the weekend is over. Fingers crossed, he'll get through without a surgery. Happy 4th of July!

Happy Valentine's Day

Have a great red heart day! I'm spending most of the day at our children's school helping and watching them celebrate at their parties. I even got to pass out valentines this morning... haven't done that since childhood :) Oh the thrill of opening a decorated shoe box with a pile of valentines all for you. Sweet!

Gobble- Gobble!

Our son's sign he put at the head of the Thanksgiving table. I love how young minds think!

By our baby girl

Snow and more coming tonight... well, all weekend.

A glimpse of my latest WIP 'art quilt' - this one is on 84" wide fabric... my largest piece yet. There's still a lot to do - I'm adding the background hopefully on Monday.

I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful feasting day of good food, good company and good cheer! We had a lovely one with family today at our house. It was a great time and fun to break out all the china and crystal...my mom did all the cooking and brought it over here. Since I'm a vegetarian, my peeps are still worried I'll make another Tofurky like I did one year. :) They all had one word for me, CARDBOARD!

Whew! It's been way too long being offline... we finally got some computer stuff sorted out and are back online this evening. It's been bitter cold with temps in the single digits and even -10F. I had bad karma on Monday when 2 different cars hit my parked car while taking our kids to school. :( We just had it fixed this spring after being hit (rental car for 18 days!) and a major overhaul when the car died as soon as we reached Portland. (PS this is a newer SUV, not an old clunker!) We're thinking this car is jinxed... and after it's fixed, maybe selling it.

I'm off the warm up in front of the fire and chill with the corgis and everyone... goodnight.

Black Friday Ornaments

Well, they're not really that 'Black Friday' since they are going in a gallery with other artist made ornaments. It's a Christmas show I've participated in for years now and becoming quite a tradition. This year's ornaments are based on memories of a pair of socks I had as a kid or maybe the trim on a coat I had... probably a bit of both. (They were the folksy kind with stripes, hearts, German/alpine inspired... maybe with couples and children holding hands - and lots of busy borders) If you grew up in the 1970s this may ring a bell. Those motifs had a huge impact on me!

Anyway, I carved my calligraphy( in Mastercarve this time- easier than wood for lettering) and printed on wool felt. Then the beading and embellishing - love doing that! I think they're fun and different... it's good to do something different each year.

The bottom photo is a scarf I finally finished last night while waiting at my daughter's ballet class. Can't wait to test it out - I think snow may be coming in about a week or so. Happy hump day! (and Happy Birthday, Mom! :)

Halloween and Fabric Painting

Our Halloween was grand... and here are a few masterpieces that father and son carved while the girls were out. Nice job, don't you think?!

I painted fabric for a shower curtain and 'sink skirt' for my bathroom. It's quite a small room and in need of a change. The design is loosely based on a 1950's textile from the Victoria and Albert Museum. I'm happy with the way it turned out! Now if only I could give the room a fresh coat of paint in a nice, warm toast color.

Just to let y'all know, my daughter spilled something on my laptop keyboard and now it is kaput. Hopefully, I can get it repaired but until then, I can only blog and post comments when I'm borrowing a friend's computer! ARG! Maybe I could saran wrap the keyboard... if it's even salvageable. I'm trying not to brood about it. Happy hump day.

Holidays at Geyser Conservatory

A lovely sight at the Geyser Conservatory in Manito park. Every holiday season they deck the plants with zillions of lights and keep the doors open late into the night. It is the stuff dreams and memories are made of. The photos don't really do the place justice but here are a few I'd like to share with you. Hope your Holidays are happily underway. Merry Christmas!

Turkey and the First Snow

We had our first snow on Friday... it was actually quite beautiful and only a small amount. The kids are thrilled with it! They donned all the snow gear and ran out to the back yard to play and chase the dogs. Once inside, requests for hot chocolate filled promptly.

The turkey is felted wool and from a kit. (sorry, can't seem to find the envelope to share the designer with you - will post when found!) It's a smallish penny rug for a table or even to hang on the front door. He's in need of some eyes and a few other bobs and fobs. It's been tough finding Thanksgiving decorations... seems the stores have tons of Halloween and Christmas. We are going to brainstorm and just make our own. Any ideas out there...? We'd love some if you'd like to share. Have a peaceful Sunday.

A Few December Drawings Before a Cookie Party

Just a few fruits of our labor today!

It's been awhile since I've done any drawing... and it shows in that rocking chair... it's not meant to be tipping forward or in the middle of the paper! But, this was a warm up. Plus, I used Stonehenge paper and it does not take gouache well at all! Much prefer the Arches Cover or Rives BFK... guess I spoiled myself using those papers for ink drawings because after today, I won't use anything else!

We had a big cookie decorating party today with all the kids in the local family... sugar cookies with colored frosting and silver dragees, and about a million sprinkles! They all had a great time, and me too. It's so fun to watch them work, talk, sample etc. Hope you are all having jolly times with family and friends.... Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year.... :)

I've been tapering off on posts lately and will probably do more of the same over the next few days. But, there may be a few posts here and there!

Christmas Baking

I've begun my Christmas baking... so far it's Toffee Bars, Chocolate Chip and Russian Tea Cakes (although my daughter calls them 'Snowballs' after her first taste ever...I think it's a pretty good name!) This weekend we'll likely make the sugar cookies. They are the most work with colored frostings and rolling out the dough but with kids, it's a must - they are insisting this year, so I will oblige. What else? Anybody got something different and creative to share?? We are having a big snowstorm right now... our first of the season and quite late for Spokane. Happy weekend!

Wild Card Day...

This post is totally unrelated to artmaking and the like... but I thought it would be fun to have a 'Wild Card Day' once in a while. (Unplanned, naturally or it wouldn't be a true wild card!)

When I'm not making art and doing mama stuff, (which is a very small amount of time!) I love to play the piano. Anyway, these 2 pieces are so lovely... my kids adore The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs) book and movie. There is a gorgeous song played during the part when the snowman and the boy fly in the air and see all sorts of magical things. It's sung by one choir boy - it's one of those pieces that gives you goosebumps! In the Bleak Midwinter is also a beautiful piece... a very old song, I believe. Sarah McLaughlin does a version on her Christmas CD that is divine.

Long Weekend...

woodblock on linen pillow

Christmas stars in our portal windows

The mini-tree my son builds his train tracks around.

Ahh, we've been having a great holiday around here, mostly hanging around the house and slowly pulling out the Christmas decorations. (my son has been asking since early Nov!) It began to snow while I was setting the food out on the Thanksgiving table... the timing was great and it seemed just like a scene out of an old movie. This is the first snow and despite good intentions, we don't have our snow tires on the cars yet. I delivered the 'Bone Alphabet' pillow and some other artwork to a local gallery and was slipping at a lot of stop signs, eek! While at the gallery - I heard most of my needle-felted circus Xmas ornaments sold yesterday morning, hurrah! :)

PS - I'll post Georgia O'Keeffe's bread instructions very soon...

Georgia's Bread

This is an official first 'food post!' I'm not much of a cook, but I love to bake. This bread is so easy and delicious. I thought I'd share it in this eating and making merry season... and it's slightly art-related since it's from the kitchen of Georgia O'Keeffe. I will be happy to post the instructions if anyone wants them... I usually only use 2 cups of wheat flour and the rest, white. My mom gave me this book for my birthday... found on the Georgia O'Keefe Museum store website. It is full of stories and recipes from Georgia's cook/kitchen helper she employed in her later years. I highly recommend it! A wonderful, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

PS I'm about to add a few more Christmas cards and tag art calendars to my etsy shop tonight!

Noro Socks

I couldn't pass up this yarn... it's Noro brand - a Japanese yarn- they have the most beautiful color combinations. I was hoping to start a 2nd pair for a birthday coming up but, I'm not sure I can get them done in time. If not... Santa's coming soon after the birthday!

PS there's my new palm plant, I'm kind of new with house plants. I think it's cute but have no idea how big it may get - should plant it in a proper pot. Thanks for all your comments yesterday, I do appreciate them! I did some drawings this morning for more ornaments but did not get a chance to make any. Maybe Saturday... tomorrow's going to be crazy with a party at school and trick or treating ~ Happy Halloween!

BIG FIBER ART SALE GOING ON IN MY ETSY SHOP... CHECK IT OUT!