Old Friends!

I haven't seen Jim and Lisa in years. It was great to see them and they look just as young as ever! Even if it is an oddly red photograph.

Clown toy

Another "quickie" project. Do you think the fuzzy yarn would be a problem for a baby? I wasn't sure. Maybe an older child?

Nail stamping

My friend Erica, her sister Myrenda and sister in law, Christina, introduced me to nail stamping today. It was easy and quite fun. I could some practice on the technique, but I think I'm hooked. I ordered the pieces and parts off of Amazon just now.

On the road back from Polacca

I was up on the Hopi reservation today for work. On the way back, I saw these neat clouds. And yes it did rain on me afterwards. I took some photos, thinking I might try and paint them sometime. Can you see how straight the road is? It's perfectly straight for about an hour, straight south of the mesa.

More

And I just thought these were pretty clouds.

Things Around the House that I Love!

My friend Lezlee is really into decorating and has a great eye. My house isn't decorated as formally as some or necessarily in an all encompassing style. But there are a lot of things around the house that I love. Lezlee has told me that a lot of times that if you just have things you love around you that somehow it can often work.

When I was visiting family in Idaho this summer, we stopped at a second hand store that had a ton of stuff. I think it was called Hidden Treasures. I found this little ceramic dog there for a buck. He reminds me of my dog Winston, except that Winston is black and white. But the whole, ears flying, running thing, reminds me of him. As I have been looking at him since I came back, I keep thinking how much I love him. That's what started me thinking about writing this blog. I thought, what else do I really love around here?

For some reason, I love rocks, mineral specimans and fossils. Here is some of them. I recently contemplated getting rid of them. Not quite yet, can't do it.

Okay, so these are really messy shelves, but they are my "to read" shelves. I LOVE to read and love that I never run out of something to read. Therefore, messy or not, I love them! They aren't on public view either.

I have a small collection of fetishes. I'm not really into the meanings behind them, I just think they are kind of cool and so "love" them.

This is a Zuni seed pot. Supposedly they would put the seeds in the pot and seal it up. When it was time to plant, they would break the pot and use the seeds. I doubt they were ever this decorative. I bought this at a Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. I love the lizard and frogs on it.

I recently painted my bathroom. I love the new color. I also love my hotel style towel rack, that I have had for years. Especially since I got rid of a lot of the extra towels I had on it. Too many.

And I LOVE my new shower curtain. It just makes me happy.

I love my deep soaking tub. It could have been made better, but it's still pretty awesome.

Years ago, my friend Robin, gave me this recipe holder. It's very convenient to use and I love it!

I recently bought some french grey sea salt from Penzies. I didn't used to think I could really tell much difference between sea salt and any other salt. But somehow this salt is different and I am loving it. I also was looking for something to put it in and decided to use this jam jar that my friend Cecelia gave me years ago. It works great and I love it too.

I love my kitchen tools. I love to cook and having the tools handy and where I need them is awesome.

I have some things on the wall where you come into my condo from my travels. It's fun to see them as I go in and out. They remind me of places I've been and things I've done.

Did I say I love rocks? Another pile on the sofa table/credenza.

I did this watercolor in June. I'm not an accomplished artist in any sense, but I love this one.

My friends, Bob and Lynne, gave me this little dish for Christmas. I moved it to photograph it, but I keep it next to my chair and it's awesome to hold my crochet or needle working supplies when I am watching tv. I love it!

There are more things I love, but didn't want to get too crazy. What do you love around your house?

Baby Booties

Still trying to use up yarn on small projects. I think it's going to take me a while! These baby booties are a too big for a newborn. Hopefully I can find somebody to give them to.

Painted the Hall!

I painted the bathroom a little while ago. And told you all that I hate to paint! So I was hoping to pay somebody to paint the rest of the house. When the guy came over, he came up with so many things (taking down the popcorn) that it really added up. So EVENTUALLY, I'll have him come over. But meanwhile, I got up the guts to at least paint the hall. It was way easier than the bathroom. Less to paint around and easier to reach. It is hard to photograph though. It was a pretty bright yellow. This view is from the green bathroom to the light purple hall. (the color is called muscari, it's a type of grape)

Here looking from the hall to the bathroom, the blue painters tape is still up. I need to paint the white trim and ceiling still.

Here it's with a flash. I like it! Maybe I'll eventually get the guts to do my bedroom.

Still Life- Still Playing around

I really need to take a class. It's hard to find the time with my crazy work schedule. I have a lot of books on watercolor. I'm going to try and read and apply some of them. I would like to get better, just for my own enjoyment!

Happy Birthday Penny!

Today is my wonderful friend, Penny's birthday. We had a great dinner out at Coup De Tartes. This is Penny with her friends, Cartha and Don.

The birthday girl looking very lovely! This was a big birthday, but I won't say which one.

Cecelia, Mark, Penny and I.

Crocheted Chihuahua!

I am STILL trying to use up all my yarn. So lots of small projects. This actually is a giant chihuahua! I should have put a little more stuffing into his neck. His head tends to fall a little bit too much forward. Anyone want a crocheted chihuahua?

Cupcake pops

My friend is having a birthday! I didn't think about making her a cake until too late to make it happen. So I decided to make cake pops. These are probably only marginally less work than a cake! They aren't as pretty as the picture in the book I was using, but I think she will like them anyway.

Duct Tape Compact, Purse and Wallet

So Katherine and I were having a crafting day today. We decided to try some of the duct tape crafts. I had a couple of books I had bought off the internet. First I made this little duct tape compact. It has a velcro fastener.

This Katherine's.

Then I made this duct tape purse to go with it. It was from a different book and took a bit longer, but I ampleased with how it turned out!

Katherine made a wallet ti gi with the compact she made. They don't look super polished, but they are fun!

Japanese folded fabric flowers

 A couple of weeks ago, a friend posted some fabric flowers she made. I thought they were great! I wanted to try them and she posted the link to the instructions. So today, my friend Katherine and I gave it a try. First I had to cut the fabric in a bunch of little squares. I started with 3 and 1/2 inch squares, but she says you can do any size and any number of petals.  I later tried some that were 2 and 1/2 inch squares.

Lots of cutting.

Then you fold them, iron them and if you want, starch them. You pin them to keep the shape and then hand sew them all together.

You cut a round piece of fabric to cover the back. You use No Fray on it. You glue it on. Then we made fabric covered buttons and glued them on the front. Isn't it cute? You can use them on barretes, hair bands, purses, shoes, packages, as pins, whatever. I love them. You can use different kinds of buttons or rhinestones in the middle or embellish them with beads.

Here are the three I made today. The black and cream one was from a silky fabric. IT was a little harder to work with.

Another try at painting a person

This is Courtney. I work with her. She is a lovely girl. I tried doing a watercolor of her while I was in Idaho. I made her look a little angry, my family said. So still, I think I'm learning something everytime I try.