The Man Quilt

Just 3 weeks before Christmas, my daughter Jill asked me to make a quilt for her boyfriend.  I can't believe I got it finished.  Luckily, a friend had given me tons of brown batik fabric that I finally got to use.

It Takes a Village

6" square postcards mailed out to family and friends this week, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

15 Minutes of Fame

Our daughter Paige is the proud owner of "The Good Luck Gallery" in Chinatown, Los Angeles.  She is currently holding a group art show and placed some of my guilts for sale.  This red/black/yellow quilt sold on opening night!!  My friends and I enjoyed a field trip on the Amtrak for a quick visit to the gallery.

What a surprise to see my name on the window with so many talented artists!!!

Week 50 in The Documented Life Journal

Week 50 - Pick a fantasy vacation spot and create a packing list.  Imagine relaxing in paradise, imagine swimming in these clear waters, imagine fitting into a teeny bikini - this is a fantasy for sure!!!

I can't believe our 2014 journals are almost complete and I'm looking forward to 2015 and another year of creative dreams.

Nature Journal Workshop

Last Saturday I was very fortunate to take a watercolor class with Jane LaFazio.  The class was held at the J & J Ranch in Descanso, about 47 miles east of San Diego.  It was sunny, crisp and beautiful  and I was delighted to enjoy a full day of instruction and friendship with so many talented ladies.

A Nice Surprise

I placed an order with Hancock's of Paducah for the 5x5 charms at $9.99 on the left.  What I received by mistake was the 2 1/2" strips at $38.99 on the right.  When I called, I was told to keep the strips for free and they mailed me the charms.

GREAT CUSTOMER RELATIONS HANCOCK'S OF PADUCAH!!!

For Rachel and Baby

This is the quilt I made for Rachel and her baby boy who is expected to arrive in December.  The nursery theme is blue with underwater critters.  I found the perfect fabric on line at The Fat Quarter Shop, "in the ocean" by Lesley Grainger.

This was my first try using prairie points and I love the results.

Congratulations to Rachel, her husband and their soon to be sweet baby.

Latest Prayer Flags

This weekend, I made some prayer flags at the request of a friend.  She will be giving them to a family in San Diego who need hope for their loved one, sending healing thoughts to him.

Week 38 - Draw or Use a Feather on Your Page

This week, we were instructed to draw, doodle, sketch or incorporate a real feather onto our page for the Documented Life Project.  I remember a little gift shop in my sister's town called "Feather Your Nest" and used that for my theme.  My husband found a crow's feather in our yard and I painted it then used it as a transfer on the left side.

Everyone following this project is eagerly awaiting the plans for 2015 - we will not be using the Moleskine planner (unless we want to), its a big mystery right now!!

Week 34 - Use Numbers On Your Page

I just returned from a week long visit to the Pacific Northwest with my sister.  The milage was a perfect theme for my Documented Life Journal.  We had a great time visiting my daughter in Los Angeles for a day then two days later, flying to Seattle and driving to Port Townsend to stay with friends.

My little Moleskine weekly planner is getting so chunky and colorful - I love this project!!

Becoming an Addiction

Washi tape - I love it!!!  Its one of those items you just keep buying, there are so many to choose from.  Luckily, I found the perfect storage case for them at The Container Store and there is room for soooo many more.

Los Angeles

Earlier this month, my husband and I rode the train to Los Angeles to celebrate our daughter's birthday.  Paige is the owner of The Good Luck Gallery in LA's Chinatown and she was having an opening - Yarn Bombing LA Take Over.

Here are a few pages from my photo journal of the great weekend we spent with Paige and Parris.

Third Day of Class

On our 3rd and last day of class, we made monoprints on gelli plates.  Using real leaves, stencils,  fabric and paper, we created colorful backgrounds to use in our journals.

These are the happy faces of Jane's students in the 3 day workshop.  I was surprised how many ladies were from out of state who came to San Diego just for this class.

Second Day of Class

Another collaged background that I painted over with ground medium to accept watercolors.  I painted coneflowers from my garden and made a little stamp using sticky backed foam.

It is so inspiring to take a class filled with creative ladies, some of us are Jane groupies and others are new students - always a fun day.

Mixed Media Journal Class

Yesterday, I started another class with the wonderful and talented Jane LaFazio.  We created a collaged background then added watercolored paintings on the top.

3 full days of instruction and fun with Jane - PRICELESS!!!!!

Stars and Scraps

More stars - my favorite pattern for quilts.  These paper pieced blocks are perfect for using up scraps. I am determined not to buy any new fabric for this quilt - except for more white (I will have to keep my eyes shut at the yardage shop, too many temptations!)

Week 25

I have finally caught up in my Documented Life Project weekly journal.  I have completed 25 weeks in a 9 week span - phew!!! Now I can work on each weekly challenge as they are assigned.

My poor sewing machine thinks I have deserted it and I'm itching to get back to my fabrics and quilting.

Weekly Planner

Week 14 - write your name and embellish it.

Week 16 - photograph or draw your favorite shoes.

Week 20 - use a rubber stamp in a new way.

I am slowly getting caught up in my year long planner.  The talented ladies at Art to the 5th are very creative when it comes to choosing weekly themes for The Documented Life - I love having an "assignment" each week.

Let's Swap

I signed up for a swap group formed from National Letter Writing Month participants.  Our first swap was "colors" and I was assigned Sarah.  She likes teals, greens and blues.  She also likes vintage items so I was lucky to find old photos on a recent trip to Texas.

Of course I had to decorate the shipping box, plain old brown is just too boring!!

Cutest Sewing Chair

I just returned from a visit with my sister in Texas.  I wanted to share this darling toy rocking chair that is completely covered in sewing supplies. It belongs to Becky from Blanco, Texas and is so clever - what a great idea.

Selfie

So far, I'm really enjoying the Documented Life Project.  Since I started late, I'm having to go back to January and play catch up.  Week 2 was "selfie".  I used an old, old letter from my late brother-in-law's family in Texas.  The tag was attached to a blouse my daughter had, I love the words on it.

When you open the added flap, you see my calendar week for January 6th.  This little planner is becoming a work of art!!!

A New Project

I have joined another on line group called "The Documented Life Project".  You are given weekly themes to paint and collage a planner for the entire year.

The prompt for week 18 was "add an inspiring quote to guide your week".  I chose Glinda's wonderful words from The Wizard of Oz.  I found the crown design from a clipart page.

As usual, I'm playing catch up and have many past weeks to create.
                                                                   

Never Throw Anything Away!!

I bought some cute little wooden flowers at Crate and Barrel.  They were packaged in a hard foam strip, way too usable to throw away!!

How cool is this?

Quilted Houses

I sent out 10 little house postcards to random participants in the letter exchange.

Using a great tutorial from Annie's freezeframe03.blogspot.com , I made a 6" block from a pattern by Freddy Moran. I stitched the street numbers for each person on the door.  These bright little houses sure make me smile!

Mass Mailing

For National Letter Writing Month, I wanted to send a note to everyone on the list.  Over 130 people!!!!  My theme was leafs and ferns.

I selected a layered art project I had done a few years ago and had it printed at Office Depot on heavy paper.  I cut each sheet in half and used a rotary cutter for a scalloped edge.

I added a little greeting and stamped a fern on the inside.

Each note card was placed in a clear plastic envelope, a bright green label was used for the address and a fern stamp added.

Off to the post office!!  This was quite a task, but I'm so glad I signed up with this group - creative mail is arriving at my house every day!!!

A Busy Month

Not only am I participating in National Letter Writers Month, but I also signed up for a six week online course called "Sketchbook Skool" through Danny Gregory!  Our first class assignment is to draw something each day using a ballpoint pen without drawing it in pencil first.

Her are my first few drawings and the subjects.  It's scary not using a penciled outline but I am getting    to be a bit more brave as each day goes by.

Happy Mail

My pen pal Tanya mentioned on Facebook that she liked Prince Harry.  So, of course I had to send her something!!!

This is the back of the card.

Designing the envelope is half of the fun!!

I have started receiving mail, it's so fun to check the mail box each day and receive creative greetings from all over America.

National Letter Writing Month

It's April 1st and the first day of mail exchange.  There are over 130 people participating and we were each assigned a pen pal.  Everyone was asked to answer a questionnaire and send it to their pal.

I made my first correspondence into a little book.

I filled the 6 pages with information about myself, my family and my interests.

I painted a padded envelope and mailed it off to Tanya, my pen pal.

We are encouraged to post something to everyone on the list and cute mail has already started to arrive at my house.  April is going to be a FUN month!!!