Welcome Great Pumpkin!

We had the sincerest of pumpkin patchs...we're flying the Linus flag...surely the Great Pumpkin will visit us!

Hope he visits you too! Happy Halloween!

It Works!

I was slow to jump on the citrasolv bandwagon to make fabric transfers.  I've printed on fabric through my printer, and used heat transfers.  I've wanted to try this method,  but it was impossible to find locally.  I found some at Amazon, and when my order (well, half of it) arrived from Amazon, I couldn't wait to try it.  I had a bunch of photocopies I made at the local Staples.   I followed the directions I found online, and zilch...nothing happened!  Was I doing it right? Was my fabric prepared correctly? I went back online and everyone said how easy it was, done in 5 minutes...

Could it be the photocopy? It had to be. So a quick trip to the Jewel where there is a copier at the entrance. For fifteen cents, I got a grainy (by comparison to the staples copies) copy. I went home and tried again, and in minutes I had this great transfer. That was the answer.  Something about the toner. (All toner copiers are not alike, you may have to try a few!) The beautiful french grain sack graphic is from the generous Graphics Fairy.

Today I'll experiment a little. I still have to heat set the image and wash it, and see how it holds up. Then I'll crochet edges...maybe tea dye the towels...  I've got some canvas totes that need decoration...  oh, the artist canvas, I wonder how that would look sewn into a pillow with a great graphic on the front...  I have some stretched canvas'...  ...a tee shirt for the little one...   I just love a new craft project that stirs up the imagination!!  Have a beautiful day!

Creating Among the Clouds

On a cloudy and moody afternoon, I sat in my second floor studio.  I face the eastern sky, and sometimes feel as if I'm in an aerie, and have a eagle's eye view of the neighborhood.  My mind wanders as I watch the clouds and the autumn light.  It's times like this I love to create...

I took out my vintage letter stamps and stamped the words, Love, Noel and Joy on cardboard coasters I covered in dictionary paper. 
             

I choose the pages I used at random, and all but one seemed to work. 

My daughter Kris brought home these musty smelling stamps a long time ago.  I didn't get why she liked them so much then, but now I think they are so cool.  And, after a few years they are not as funky smelling as they used to be.

I may even like the backs better than the fronts.  I stamped this collaged bird image...it's from a company called LaBlanche, on to brown kraft paper I cut in my big kick die cutter.

I punched the holes with a punch you use with a hammer.  I used my jeweler's anvil  hubby surprised me with.  That's love when a guy buys you your own anvil!! (My guy knows what I like!) It worked really well to make holes in the thick cardboard.

 I finished each one with a crystal teardrop, or a jewel, and some hand dyed seam binding ribbon.

Except for this one... I used some red ribbon and a red stone. 
Pay no attention to the mess behind the chicken wire.

 I had to show you the sky, it was awesome...

 The light was so strange and beautiful...

Enjoy this beautiful day!  
P.S.  Thanks to Alison at The Polo House, for honoring me with a Versatile Blogger Award.  Alison is a sweetheart, such a warm and talented girl...and her home is just AMAZING.  So proud to be chosen and in  such wonderful company. Check it out!

Around the House

Flowers from a dear friend...

The last of the blooming flowers outside...these are called
seashell cosmos.

Homemade pizza, just like Mom used to make.
Baked in Buscia's pan...

A pillow my Mom made many years ago,
still beautiful...as are our memories .

A pumpkin,  made by Grandma for her dear
granddaughter Kristen when she was small.
Mementos of Mom all around the house.

Every Picture Tells a Story

I threw in the caribou just for fun!   Have a beautiful Sunday.

Playing with Paper

I've been playing with paper for years now, but have nary a thing to show for it. Since I've recently become hooked on youtube tutorials, I've grabbed my walnut ink, my one color of glimmer mist and started to create.

I used my embossing folders for the backs and some vintage images I've collected.

This sweet and angelic altar boy is my Dad...in 1934.

I love this Dad and little girl. I've learned to make cheater glimmer mist, (more colors!) and combed through my vast collection of stuff for more supplies. This is the time of year the projects start piling up, and so does the mess. I'm searching the NW burbs for citrasolv for some fabric transfers, sewing for our service projects and baking all at the same time. It might explain the 30 hearts I sewed inside out today...but the pumpkin banana bread smells great. Take care my friends.

Introducing a New Photographer



Patio Doors



With her avant garde technique and her moody use of light and contrast...This young photographer comments on life in suburbia.



Beans





Kristen's Pumpkin





Sunbeam





Self portrait, Feet



This rising star of the art world's work has also been featured in many places across America, as her paintings and drawings are displayed in homes and workplaces. 

This young artist is going places!

(Mostly in a car seat!;-)
(The artist is our little bird, three years old...and her art IS displayed across the country...at Kristen's office in Manhattan, Grandma and Grandpa's place in Texas, all across the Midwest, mostly on refrigerators and file cabinets, but proudly displayed!!!)


Hope you enjoyed seeing this budding photographer's lastest work!