italy

been a long time.......yes i know. i went to italy for a while and here is a pic of mom and me on a boat touring around the island of Capri. it was such a lovely day.
this is my new obsession. pizza. no the real stuff.......so amazing.

it's not gold

so, what does this look like to all of you? no it's not a drag queen, it is wheat kernels from the field, brought to rest in a hole that has be dug in the yard. who do you think did this? wasn't me. but, i have been seeing a squirrel who is pretty active around here.

if you look close, there are quite a few kernels in there. interesting eh?

harvest

so, i decided to grow some potatoes, since i kill any plant that tries to live , i have heard these will grow no matter what. guess what? i decided to dig down and see what came up. woooooow! i was so thrilled. aren't they cuuuuuute? there will be more to come. and with the amount i planted, there might just be a potato coming your way.

craft show i am in

craft-in at the drive-in is this weekend at the newberg drive in movie theater. i will be there, and the show runs from 10 am to 6 pm. check out here for the vendor list. maybe there will be some of your favorites.

chair

my office chair needed some serious updating. here is the shell without the cushion...

here is the after. i put white on the seat, and this really cool batik fabric for the cushion.

my fanny is happy now.

spring beauties

i took some photogs of these gorgeous iris flowers in our yard. they smell lovely.

this yellow one is pretty stunning

this one i accidentally broke off the stem, but decided to include it, because the mottled dusty pink is a color that is hard to replicate.

i will have more coming. i have altered books to show you, cards, etc.

more screenprinting

i really loved my screen printing class. so much so that i pretty much inked the entire place. thist shirt turned out lovely.

i also did another one here on a piece of muslin that i will again applique' when time allows.

more screenprinting

i had a blast at my screen printing class. here is another image i put on a few pieces of fabric. this is on a t shirt. it consists of green and purple dye, and i just dolloped the ink and dragged the squeegee across. wasn't sure how it was going to come out, but i am pretty happy with the results.
this is one i put on a piece of muslin. i will applique' it on a later date.
this i put on blue denim. i used white ink and the excess left on the squeegee. it really popped off the denim, no?

screen printing class

took myself a screen printing class this weekend. didn't know the first thing about it, but i knew i wanted to try it. sooooo, here is the image i used as inspiration:

this is with screen filler on the screen. keep in mind, i didn't paint in the stems, i am going to sew those to whatever fabric in print on

the reddish stuff is another type of screen filler. this dries, and then you use a hose to wash out the blue stuff.

after you get rid of the screen filler and the screen dries, you can print. i used a few colors here, and came up with this sort of burnt orange. i printed it on muslin

this i used yellow and orange for contrast::::

i will be sewing in stems with pretty green thread, so it will be a mixed media type of thing. i had a great time in this class and highly recommend anyone to try it. more pictures later

here comes spring

i have been waiting for spring to show it's true changes, but nothing is more beautiful than our apple tree in the back yard. it is now in full bloom. every morning i wake up, this puts a lovely smile on my sleepy face.

the farmer in the field next to our property is spraying all sorts of lovely, smelly chemicals, so i didn't get a closeup. but soon, i will post it.

they are so cuuuuute!

of course, my obsession continues with more paper flowers. in earlier posts, i showed you some that i made from a great tutorial on the lasting memories website/blog. here are a few more i added to my bouquet last week. i love the sparkles, and the embellishment idea. i have had too much fun. this is all stuff i have on hand. a very cheap and fun craft.ta ta for now!

more paper flowers

i found another you tube tutorial for these lovely paper roses. the directions call for flower shapes from a die cutter, but i don't have one. so i just used some flower shapes i had laying around, and i think it turned out great. i can envision these in all colors!

another cool project

i found this great tutorial for this beautiful, economical and easy

neckpiece.

it is scrap ribbon, folded to and fro, and some beads in the middle.

it looks stunning on bubbles!! she had a ball. i think this would look great for a spring outfit, a strapless sundress, or a crisp white shirt.

i have decided that fashion is an important part of anyone's jewelry choice. i will be pairing

some of my jewelry pieces with suggestions for what to wear with them.

ciao!

getting crafty with myself

i had a busy weekend. with renting a carpet cleaner(worth every penny), to cleaning bathrooms, to cooking lots of food, and running errands, i was able to carve out some time for a little craftalicious. this fan flower project i found while surfing some of my favorite blogs. super fun and fairly easy.

this first one i used some fake flower petals and paper

these are two of the smaller versions.

this is the whole family striking a pose. this is a great craft for scrap paper and leftover buttons and ephemera ( i love that word).

stay tuned for more projects!

a new before and after

i found this fantastic tutorial on design sponge a few weeks ago. i decided to put my own twist on it. it started out as a template i made here:cut out of simple scrap wood:
now, it is pink, cute and a beautiful showpiece for jewelry.
i just love how it turned out. don't you?

new jewels

erica and i took a fused glass class last summer, and i finally got around to throwing these into something fun to wear.
the image in the glass is supposed to be a tree,but, well, it kinda looks like something from the cakewrecks blog. i still love it though, and it will grace my neck soon.

cute story

last saturday, i was on my way to pick up something from a friends house, and i noticed these two little girls selling stuff on the side of the street. i stopped and asked them what they were selling. they said "cookies, and flowers." of course, two of my favorite things. they had this lovely little plastic cup of fresh daphne, and it smelled amazing. so, we went over the "financial" end of things and i went home with this lovely little bouquet. it made my otherwise weird smelling car smell oh, so good. i put it in my room, and when i woke the next morning, it was such a lovely smell.

signs of spring

seriously people, i can't believe it, look at the daffodils, all standing at attention. beautiful.
even through the gravel, they certainly have a job to do.....
at the front of the property, these babies are pushing their way through. i woke up to 30 degree weather, but the flowers don't seem to mind.

new fund portland website

we all love radio. i in particular don't listen to the radio in my car because it is always a barrage of commercials, and stupid ads. now, i can listen to some great, informational, and somewhat irreverent content on pdx radio podcasts. check it out here.

working on my picture downloads. sorry about this. a call to apple on monday.

check it out. i figured out how to link in. sort of

Love. Obsess. Inspire. click it baby, click it!!

new blog i found

check out this blog i found. she also posts some really cool free downloads too.

www.loveobsessinspire.typepad.com

before and after sort of

i had a rough piece of wood hanging from my bead table that was just so ugly. so, i decided to make a padded bead holder out of it. with some batting, ribbon, and corded ribbon for the hanger, and a little tulle for cuteness, this is the new and improved bead board. as you can see, that is a concrete wall (downstairs studio), and it not much for accepting nails, so i had to get creative.some of my findings and beads in place. i just need stuff off my table. you know how it is.
not bad eh?

eco blog find

mayamade is a blog i stumbled on that deals in all things "eco." maya has a very relaxed, cozy nature to her blog and it is a joy to read and smile at the same time. she was mentioned on a major website as being one of the really cool blogs to visit, and i did just that.

catch her here www.mayamade.blogspot.com

another before and after

this is one ugly picture i had hanging downstairs in the studio, i felt it needed a leg up, an inspirational push, a new life, not a reality show.

so, with a little "saucy ness" and some paint, this is what i came up with.
i just love a great before and after! no?

before and after

i just love a great before and after. of course, since i can't seem to figure out how to make one image come out before the other, this is sort of in reverse.

the picture on the right is how i bought it. the tag said 10 bucks and "needs refurbishing" on it. i snorted, and said to self,"refurbishing" is your middle name. so, i couple coats of paint,and some nice new knobs, and presto, the pic on the left is the finished product.

i love the combo of brown and blue, not puke yellow.

welcome back

long time no talk. life has been nutty. i haven't taken many pictures, but i am still alive. i will be posting some stuff later.

see you