windchime

today I had time to work on something that has been a bit of a monkey on my back

do have those? I know you do :)

the school is having an auction to raise $$

and my daughter's class brought from home all kinds of recyclable/reusables to make a

garden art/windchime/suncatcher sort of thing

but, as it turns out, 

there is very little the kids can do by of participation except to bring in the materials

(with the wire, pliers, awl, etc. it's just too many sharp objects and opportunities for owies)

but I'm liking the can lids and think I'll add more

the kids can sign their names on the lids

and call it a day

right?

one fine day #4

8:27 a.m.

(a few blocks into this morning's drive to Run Errands)

*it's turning into one fine day

*in case you're wondering:

the "one fine day" posts are about slowing down, breathing, and whispering, 

"this is one fine day" 

... even if it is, has been, or could be, a shitty one ...

(pardon my french)

one fine day #3

2:47 p.m.

the taller than me child cooking in the kitchen

it's one fine day

one fine day #2

11:26

waiting in the car for 4H dog practice to finish up

it's been one fine day

one fine day #1

7:01 a.m.

(just before dashing off to the bus stop)

this is one fine day

this is ...

what's going on around here

and I'm the girl looking at the sky

does she see a great "sky shot?"

yup

it's a beautiful day in spite of everything derailing around me

(don't worry - it's just extended family junk - and junk is not a strong enough word)

***

thank you Annie at Knitsofacto for the idea to use a train off it's tracks

(she used a car off it's wheels to express a similar sentiment)

***

I am taking a few days off to catch up on sleep, laundry, and all around normal stuff

which includes visiting you folks

.... but not much in the way of other fun stuff like tutorials, teatime, or show and tells

sight seeing

we ventured out into the rainy weather to see the tulips up north

(Skagit Valley Tulip Festival)

this year is an especially beautiful one

the cold weather and added rain is just what the tulips love

- it's like sunshine from the ground up -

and of course, I have to stop and look at the barns

they are so weathered and lonesome out there - I feel compelled to honor their existence

this shop window captured my eyes and my heart too

and how many school days has this old school bell announced to not so eager children?

and after a day like this, I have to come home with treasures of my own

a favorite book series:

some nostalgia in painted metal and glass:

and a bit of the glory that drew us outdoors today:

what sights have your eyes seen this weekend?

kitchen table

I made myself a cup of red zinger tea this morning 

with the sole purpose in mind of staining the right hand side of a stitched piece I worked on this week

while I was waiting for it to dry and sipping my tea I thought of you

 I had such kind words of encouragement yesterday about the blog and the mom thing and tea and tutorials and more .... I realized how connected we are in so many ways .... I guess I had lost sight of that .... I've just been overwhelmed lately with the thoughts of how fast the kids are growing up ... and how much of it do I miss while I try to create art every day, run my shop, and blog about it?

the fact is, art is where I speak my hard to express thoughts 

and this week is no exception

all the while I worked on this, I was thinking about the love of siblings

(the children in this piece are from some of my "sad, anonymous, lovingly adopted by me" photos)

and my come away thought is that as long as they love each other, I've done well

 thank you for listening

thank you for joining me at my kitchen table

let's do it again - ok?

crazy for journals

I love the Moleskine journals 

they come in all sizes

and they're easy to personalize

I added a photo transfer to the cover of this one:

(I'll use it for our summer vacation on Kauai)

*

 and this one has it's own case:

(it was easy to sew - if you sew - the elastic is a "goody" brand hair elastic - cool eh?)

*

I attached a photo to this one - it will be good for garden notes:

(I sanded the edges of the photo and peeled off the bottom layer of photo paper for easier adhesion)

*

 and this one (my favorite) is a photo directly transferred onto the cover:

(I prepped the cover with gesso for the foundation)

***

 "the Moleskine notebook is the heir and successor to the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. In 1997 a small Milanese publisher brought the legendary notebook back to life, and selected this name with a literary pedigree to revive and extraordinary tradition."

***

on a personal note - I really suck as a blogger lately

what's up with that?

I've lost my mojo for some reason

possible reasons:

busy life (mom)

other priorities (teenage kids)

oh wait - that must be it!

I'm a mom to teenage kids!

no one ever mentioned it was like having toddlers all over again

argh!

maybe I need to go back to tea posting 

- it really kept me on track -

 there's a lot to be said for that daily cuppa

... just some rambling thoughts ...

stitching with pliers

 ... for real ...

sometimes it's just too much work to get that needle through several thicknesses of fabric

and paper can be especially uncooperative

(it has no weave to part a path for the needle-eye & thread)

... so I use pliers ...

is that what all the fuss was about?

... there's more ...

these sweet things needed pliers too:

it's a serious dose of fun color

just in case spring hasn't burst out in all her full operatic diva glory

(a little something to tide you over)

*

ingredients:

can lids

bottle caps

wire

bamboo skewer

... ta-da ...

a new day

and a new week

-whew-

what I'm working on:

art journal page,

painted stones,

stitching with pliers.

... did I get you with that one?

I'll tell you later - but for now I have some catching up to do in blogland

fun with google earth

everyone is home for spring break
(sleeping in and staying home)
so I had a relaxed morning with my cup of tea and my iPad
*
my Google Earth application wasn't crashing so I took some cool screen shots and enhanced them with my favorite photo editing app - PhotoForge 2

(more particulars on the how-to is below)

Paris

The Bahamas

Kansas

Mexico City

North Dakota

The Netherlands

Mississippi River

to take a screen shot:

 hold down the power button on the side and the toggle button on the front simultaneously

you will find your screen shot in your photo library under "saved photos"

using PhotoForge2:

it's super easy to access your photo library and edit your photos with this app

I love it for it's simplicity

I start with cropping the picture to take out the watermarks and the bookmark bar at the top

then I play with saturation, contrast, hue and sharpness

getting it to your blog or anywhere else:

at the upper right corner of PhotoForge is a little icon

click on that and you can upload directly to any number of places like FB, Flickr, etc.

(I just e-mailed the pictures to myself,

saved them to iPhoto on my Mac, 

and uploaded them to my blog the usual way)

if you have kids - they'll help you figure it all out

:)

.... just curious - which one is your favorite?

I love the Mexico City one (well, and Paris too)