Friday, November 30, 2012

staying in

 it's been rainy and gray outdoors


and a good day to stay in


one of my birthday gifts was a stack of hexagon quilt squares
made from vintage fabrics and handstitched
... they were just waiting for me to come along


I've set aside some of the squares that aren't being included in a mini quilt I'm working on
 they make darling little mug rugs
- the perfect thing to work on when it's so dreary outdoors -



making rainbows in spite of the weather
:)



Monday, November 26, 2012

frost here, fog there

this morning we woke up to a coating of frost on everything


I was out with my camera as soon as there was enough daylight


and then after the early morning drop offs at school and the bus stop
I went out to the valley to see the fog


fog gives everything a softness


and what little color there is
is laid gently against a canvas of mist


in my home
there has been lots of thankfulness these last five days
and now this particular mom is thankful for the return of our regular routine

(exclamation point)





Monday, November 19, 2012

orange craving

if you have been reading my blog for a while
you already know that right about this time of year I get a big orange caving


I dry slices in the oven
.... and then use them to make stuff (of course!)


how I dry my orange slices:
slice the oranges relatively thinly - about 1/4 inch thick I guess
lay out on wax paper on a cookie sheet
bake at 200 degrees (f)
check every hour - flipping the slices over is a good idea too
do this until dry (about 3 hours?)

... and save the end bits!
drop them into a saucepan with a cinnamon stick and some water
simmer and smell .... my, oh my, it's like heaven


and then comes the fun part
... making stuff!
like these ornaments


ornament DIY ingredients:
dried orange slice
hot glue pieces of lichen in the middle
hot glue a deconstructed pinecone on top of that 
(or some other kind of bead, button or bauble)
dip in melted beeswax 
(beeswax: a fantastic preservative - and it smells great too)


 .... here's a link to the wreath I made last year ....

Sunday, November 11, 2012

handwork


I've been thinking a lot lately about passing along the art of handwork for the next generation
sometimes I fear that such things will vanish in the fog of the glowing screen of Kindles and iPads
my own kids see me working with my hands constantly
sewing, knitting, painting, cooking
and I'm always so grateful when they express an interest
but it's a constant battle to get them to turn off the devices and open up a book
or better yet, learn a skill
*
but this was the scene today
we began work on a stitch sampler
and while we worked we talked about how I learned and who I learned it from
and how many generations have gone before us
and perhaps will follow
*
it was a good day to do the slow sew


Monday, November 5, 2012

photo transfer on glass

I tried something new today
have you seen my old tried and true photo transfer technique that I use on watercolor paper?
(click here for the tutorial)
well, I thought it might work on some of my beach glass


it actually works better on beach glass than it does on paper



the two pieces pictured below are from my outing on the trail a couple of days ago:



here you can see how different they all look depending on the thickness of the glass:


the pieces I chose were pretty clear - the roughest one being the one on the far right

the glass was very weathered and gives the image a foggy look to it
but if you flip it over it's really quite visible:


I am so pleased with these results!
I will definitely be making lots more of these!

Friday, November 2, 2012

inspiration

a recent conversation posed the question,
what do you do when you're needing inspiration?


my answer was 
getting out in nature


today, it was a 30 minute walk on the trail


and I took my camera


so, if I were to revisit that original conversation,
the more complete answer would be
getting out in nature with my camera


life has been 
T O O
hectic lately


time to slow down and take time to see