I want to wish everyone a happy and productive 2012. I’ve been quickly scanning the blogs of a number of on-line friends and I am amazed at how ambitious everyone seems to be. I continue to struggle to find blocks of time to focus intensely on my art and have to keep reminding myself of what a wonderful gift my travel experiences are. That said, I have decided that this year I’m going to choose a word to remind myself to find the...

Life in Osoyoos is proving to be busy but I’m burning the midnight oil to complete my self challenge – to produce a sample of each of the 75 knots in the book ’75 Chinese, Celtic, & Ornamental Knots’  by Laura Williams and Elise Mann.  I’m hoping that when I get to the projects I can pick up some of the finishing techniques as well.  Nancy, a friend in Arizona, offered to teach me some of the basics when I get...

A friend from our Arizona travels tweaked my interest in the craft of tying knots.  I managed at the time to stay focused on other activities but something caught that day.  A little later I spotted a book in a clearance bin in Michaels and picked it up – 75 Chinese, Celtic, & Ornamental Knots by Laura Williams and Elise Mann.  The book got tucked away but resurfaced this fall when we were repacking for our winter travels.  Just about...

  I’ve been struggling to get some art routine re-established and hope that by taking advantage of the inspiration provided by Dawn DeVries Sokol’s web challenge Na(tional)No(nstop) Jou(rnaling) Mo(nth), I might just succeed in November.  I’m new to art journaling but have been following some journaling sites and videos for a while so decided it might fit with my November schedule.  I didn’t get a lot done this...

Last week, before a long weekend filled with visitors, I worked on a couple of watercolor paintings. They were definitely ‘painterly’ and not ‘artistic’. The effort left me decidedly frustrated and I turned for a short time to a beading project (to come) while I processed what had happened and strategized on a new approach.  I’ve been away from my brushes and paints too long!  I’ll share my initial efforts...

I can’t believe that it’s eleven months since my last post!  It’s not that I haven’t been playing, experimenting, painting, stitching, beading and in general creating!  The rambling lifestyle (check out my other blog) has lots of benefits but it does take a toll on serious ‘studio’ time.  Not to mention two years of recovering the use of my dominant hand and wrist after a serious break have taken their toll...

In September I walked into the Fabric Addict in Lethbridge (the day after our arrival) and there sat a new shipment of smocking pleaters waiting to be unpacked.  Now I have been thinking about exploring this media for a while.  It’s one of the few things I have never tackled, mainly because my Mother smocked dresses for two generations of girls in the family and I didn’t want to tread on her space.  She passed away last spring and...

          On September 23 I drove to Calgary to check out the results on two entries in the quilting and fiber art competition at the Calgary Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive Show and was ecstatic to find that I received a first on my Wearable Art entry – Memories of Arizona and a second on one of my memory quilts – The Fabric of my life.       Memory Quilt – The Fabric of my Life...

A Collage of the Painted Fabric – (Later Incorporated as a layer in ‘paper cloth’) Just did the heat set and thought I would publish the results.   The Fabric Before Painting   I’m going to challenge myself to use each of the pieces someway over the next few days.  I’m doing a series of small and ‘quicks’ so it may work out okay. Thought I would throw in a shot of this morning’s...

I do have a lot of activities on the go – I just haven’t blogged about them.  There is a smocked dress, a pair of socks, samples of free motion quilting based on Leah Day’s work, a challenge piece posted to Dale Anne Potter’s facebook fan page …..  All this and now I have my days to myself so there will be lots more.  Let’s hope the weather continues to be fair!  The combines will run!!!! A little personal...