wall jewelry

so much of my work is on the small side

(this piece is only 5X8)

I have found that adding a chain at the top really sets it off

the knob at the top adds something special too

that's just a bauble glued to a nail head

easy peasy

t.n.t. - a color explosion

t.ea

on.

t.uesday

*

the flowers are in explosion mode these days

and bringing them into the house creates a little explosion all it's own

the best way to manage it is to just put all the flowers in the sink

and from here I can see my iced tea

(rosehip and cherry by Ahmad)

and my "sister" saying

(my kitchen sink is surrounded by little reminders of the important things in life)

I ended up with three bouquets today

*

there's one on the dining room table:

one on the kitchen table:

and one on the piano:

*

I hope you had a lovely and long weekend ...

for my part - it sure was nice to not have to make lunches at 5:30 monday morning :)

... it's the last tuesday in May, can you believe it?

shop local

I created this treasury on Etsy by looking up only local artisans

it's easy to find the folks near you who are creating and selling on Etsy

they have a "shop local" search feature

I was amazed at all of the cool stuff in and around my hometown

why don't I meet these people at the grocery store?

... but maybe I do!

:)

 

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

moleskine notebooks

mohl-a-skeen-a

I guess that's how you say it

but in my mind it will always be

mole-skin

and I imagine a cute little mole just gotten out of the bathtub

wish out loud

I love the colors they come in .... I turned this little green one into a wish list keeper

dream in the daytime

and this little pink one is for keeping a bucket list ... but hey, a shopping list works too

... these are mini ...

only 2.5 X 4 inches

I painted the cover designs with white acrylic paint

and then added a protective acrylic coat

the sleeve I made out of watercolor paper and used paint for the title

the designs I had already noodled out on rocks ages ago

I just transferred the designs onto something flat and colorful

(and perhaps more useful than a rock)

Cyndee Starr at Eloise's Collage has been doodling on notebooks

I think she got the wheels turning in my own head for this idea

thanks Cyndee!

a greening

we had such a stretch of dry weather

... it felt so odd ...

but now the rain is back - and things feel right again

"right as rain" is what they say

*

my tea today?

a cozy cup of bengal spice with a splash of milk

7:30 at night taking a turn through the garden

my little shadow is our Bouvier: Theodore

he's always close by

looking for troublemakers

keeping us safe

:)

river in spring

I haven't been out to capture the morning in watercolors for a few weeks

... and I have missed so much!

today's is from my favorite vantage point

a bend in the river where the water is very expansive

almost like a lake

I painted in the background washes roughly

and then came home to add in the trees and ridge

it's not much like reality - but hey - it's my impression of it today

clear and reflective

:)

how the wine bottles turned out

you may have read my post last week about my glass adventure

now that Mother's Day is past, 

I can show the results

(these were gifts)

*

these are the bottles before firing:

(left) balsamic vinegar bottle           (center) bacardi rum bottle                 (right) run of the mill wine bottle

 *

the process 

(known as "slumping) 

involves heating the glass bottle in a kiln up to 1400 degrees

and then gradually bringing the temperature back down

doing this flattens the bottle nicely:

(left) balsamic vinegar bottle                              (center) wine bottle                              (right) rum bottle

 *

the fun part was decorating them:

*

for the rum bottle, I decoupaged the reverse side with a postcard image and old book text 

then I added the faux sailor knot around the top:

*

for the wine bottle and the vinegar bottle,

I added copper wire and beads around the bottle neck

and I also wire wrapped a cheese knife

the wine bottle makes a perfect cheese plate:

if this looks like fun to you,

look for local ceramic or stained glass shops

sometimes the "paint your own" ceramics places have classes just for this

it's fun - and makes a great gift!

sun flavored

it is an impossibly beautiful day

iced tea and sun hat

bubbles and blue sky

if you live up here ...

(near Seattle)

... you know how impossible this is

*

has spring sprung where you are?

or have you jump into summer too?

spring banners

 I finished my project

- that's always a good feeling!

spring banners

stamped using my own carved stamps

tea bag papers

vintage book pages

watercolor paint

machine stitched

strung on sisal twine

only $18

(a shameless plug)

glass adventure

last night I went to a wine bottle slumping class

(Covenant Art Glass in Everett WA)

I thought it was a hot shop (glass blowing)

but their specialty is stained glass

the owner is artist Stan Price and the salmon paintings on glass are his

the shop had lots of examples hanging in the window

both of his own art and of student art

he calls his studio a "learning studio" and his focus is on classes and workshops 

... for the average person as well as for the stained glass enthusiast ...

it is always an inspiration to me to visit someone's art workspace

I have a fresh sense of what is possible

and a new respect for a completely different medium

the wine bottle part was fun and I'll tell you more about that in a later post
they won't be ready for a couple of days

but I knew you would love to see some of the beautiful art

*

have you attended a class or workshop lately?

I'd love to hear about it