Sunday, October 9, 2011

Yes it really IS OCTOBER!!

So sorry for being so lazy and not posting sooner!! It's not because I don't have anything to say either!! On the contrary! I have been quite busy since I last posted, so I really have not been just laying around snoozing and eating bon bon's!!!

As of the end of August I have been back to work again, so yes I have been a bit tired too after a long day but the weather was really the pits as well! Our spring was one of the wettest and yuckiest on record (yucky part my opinion of course!) We then had June which was the nicest part of summer and from there we went to HOT , HOTY and HOTTER!! Plus add LOTS of nasty humidity and yes my summer pretty well sucked in that sense! My garden went from mud to melted and peppers covered in aphids and watering constantly and then came end of Aug and September and the rains started up again and rarely let up! It was so not pleasant either!! So now sadly the tomatoes are slowly rotting into the ground and I have managed to salvage some and also some peppers but am now cleaning that all out!! I have planted some perennial garlic, some potato onions and multiplier onions and will see how they winter over! I surely am hoping the winter will be less brutal than the last one and an improvement over the spring and summer we have had this year!!! I am crossing my fingers!!!

Now that I have that off my chest............work is going quite well and I am happy that I have several of my same children back again and things are going well!! I did manage to get a whole week off in the end part of September and went to MI for a fabulous felting retreat with some awesome instructors and fab artists!! There was Elis Vermeulen that taught us 2 types of felted bags, pockets and so much more! She was unbelievably amazing and had such an aura about her, I truly enjoyed working with her and learned so much from her!! She is very intense, driven and gifted in her art work, do look at her blog!! Another instructor was THE Chad Alice Hagen! She is fabulous, oh so much fun and so funny as well! Her dyeing and resist dyeing techniques are fantastic!!! I truly learned a great deal from her!! Do a google search for her blog too (she hasn't updated in a bit though!) We also had a fun class with my friend Pamela MacGregor ,who is a very talented and also gifted felt artist here from good ole OH!! We created a fun felted cuff with her and also made a fused glass  along with that with Jone Radoski, who was also the organizer of this fantastic retreat!! Another marvelous felt artist and wonderful instructor was Amira Mudfaery (she is on FB!). Though I didn't take her class on our day off (I was in dire need of rest! hehehe!) she was such an inspiration and joy to me I was so happy to have met her!! There were lots of new friends made and also some others I knew but had not met in person and also some of my friends too that I knew that came as well!! My dear dear friend Heather came and her beau too!! One of my roommates was Kristi Felts!! Her work is absolutely amazing! She was a wealth of knowledge and a great help to me ,as was my other roommate Eugenie too! They were wonderful and a joy to room with!! The week was truly magical and I had so much fun! I learned so very much and hope to get time now to apply all the techniques and knowledge to some new pieces I want to create!! I plan to try and go again next year!! The Creative Felt Gathering was sensational!!

I also participated in a fun paper swap and got some awesome papers to use in my journals I hope to create and sell in my etsy shop!! They are from Orit in Israel and I will post some pics as well in my flickr of the goodies I rec'd!! If you'd like to join in a paper swap go check out the site LaWendula to sign up!! I love FM's work and the swaps are fun! I am already signed up for this month and swapping with a gal in the UK!!Of course signed up for next month as well!!!

Well I think I have said it all for now! I will leave you with some fun pics below and do please check out my flickr and facebook pages to see all of my fab pics!! I had so many, that the ones on Flickr are not labeled but the ones on FB are!! sorry I was tired!!! I will also try and be more productive and post new posts and also update my etsy shop VERY soon! Stop back by to see what I am working on and creating!! I will also take pics of my Creative Felt Gathering pieces to share soon as well! didn't get them in with all my others as I was too busy keeping up with everyone else's stuff!!! Have fun and take care till next time!
I got to hug ELIS!!!! She didn't frown!

THE Chad Alice Hagen!

The room we did most of our work in and ate too!

someone's awesome bags!!

Elis in her Felted Finery!

The whole teaching gang!!

Our Last day!! It was Marvelous! all but 5 are here!



part of my paper swap

more paper swap goodies!!

my new journal soon in etsy shop!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Where Did My Summer GO!!!?????

Well seems as though I have been lost in a fog or should I say heat and humidity all summer long! It was a very hot and sticky summer and we have now finally had several days of pure loveliness with cooler temps and low low humidity!! I just love this! I have been busy doing nothing really! I did make a new journal after taking Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogie class and I plan to make a bunch more and sell some too!! I went to a Wine Fest in Kirtland with my sister and family (pics to come as well soon!!) My family was here to visit for a week. My mom,  dad, and sister and her 2 boys!! We had lots of fun, ate and drank and were merry!! I have a few pics to add now and more to come .....just have to download them from the camera and I will of course post them ALL on flickr!! and Facebook too hehehe! I will be posting new batts and yarns as well soon to my etsy shop and sadly I will be back at work very soon as well! Yes my summer break will officially be over on the 22nd, so I will no longer get to sleep in and sit and watch all our little humming birds empty all 4 of their feeders in a day!! I will have to start thinking of having to get up early again and make my 30 min drive into work daily and the 30 min back home!! Oh well so it goes right!! No rest for the wicked so they say! I will be a bit better at trying to update my poor neglected blog and also my shop! I am working on new things along with my fiber goodies so hope you'll stop in to peek!! Here are a few pics to get you started of what I did during break!! More to come and of course garden pics too! Sadly the peppers are not happy and being eaten by aphids and the tomatoes are gigantic and have been retied so many times and are over 7 ft tall I am letting them now hang and hope to actually get some ripe ones SOON!! Thanks for following along in my ramblings!! I'll be back soon with more pics and news before very long! So please do stop back by! My sister returns tomorrow from a short trip with her boys to MI then she goes bk home to CO Tues so I am sure I'll have lots more to post after that as well! Have a great weekend all!
my daddy!

my sister here in OH

my darling hubby!! love!

my nephew (belongs to sister above!!) and mom!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Finally Updated My Etsy Shop!!

Well I've had those batts sitting there for over a week, just waiting on pics to finally get them posted to the shop!! So they are now available, so take a peek! Here is a shot of each one of them!! All the pics are on my FB and flickr! Have a nice Sunday and a great week ahead! I also have to throw in one of my little baby with me in my art room! She always is with me wherever I am!! Or dad when I am gone hehehe!!
sleeping under her blankie even if it's 85 in here!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

new batt in etsy shop!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Time With Our Granddaughter!!

Well I have been busy goofing off for the most part! I have gotten batts made (really I did!! just before she came!) I just need to get pics now, so that is next on my to do list!! We also spent some time with our granddaughter Erica for the past few days and we had loads of fun doing things, but the most fun I think was at the zoo Thurs!! We walked and saw so many animals, but didn't manage to finish the rain forest, so that is on the list for next time! We did spend over 4 1/2 hours walking and looking and looking! Here are just a few highlights! All 118 pics are on Flickr for you to see! Loved taking pics of her and of course lots of the animals!! The weather was a bit humid but not super hot so we managed! As my hubby says "it is summer ya know"!!! To say the least we were all tired but happy! So watch for the next post on new batts listed in my etsy shop ok!! Have a fun day!
entrance to the zoo

near the new elephant exhibit

having fun riding the camel!

grandpa and Erica

at the playground!

near the wolf exhibit

walking with grandpa

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Where has Time Gone!!

Well I am back from my fun and exciting trip to PA, where I got to visit my dear friend and fiber pal Heather!! My, my, oh my, what fun was had by all! We felted, dyed, spun and just plain had oodles of fun!! I haven't laughed so hard and long and so much since I don't even know when!! Her daughters were the best and such beautiful girls as well!! I offered to take them all home with me! Then there were the 2 little kitties she has that were so cute too!! To say the least it was a very grand time and I hope to do that again if she'll still have me!! hehehe!! Thanks dear it was a true blast!!!

Now I am still working on Mary Ann Moss's class Full Tilt Boogie and I hope to start making some fun journals very soon (starting this weekend!!) to put in the etsy shop, as well as spin and I have loads of wool to wash and dye so there will soon be pics of all that as well!! I have some pics to share of my trip, a couple of journal pages I did in an old book I am using and a pic of some fab silk I received from another fiber friend, Omi!! I will be back when the sun comes out so I can post some of my garden that despite the crappy rain and cool temps and no sun is still seeming to continue to thrive!! I am happy for that!! All my pics are on FB and flickr so take a peek!! Be back soon with more news and pics etc!! Till then have a great weekend wherever you may be!
Heather's bag being laid out

the kitties!!

my 1st bag in progress (front side)

my 2nd bag (front side)

one dye batch of silk

some of the dyed silk

silk gifts from Omi

 
1st page in journal I am playing in
another journal page!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Fun Day

I am so happy I got my garden all planted now, with the new raised bed my hubby made for the tomatoes and peppers and all is mulched and looking good! Now to have him keep it all alive while I am away for a bit!! hehehe!
I also took pics of the silk scarves I rust dyed Saturday at Beth's and pics of my journal pages I did while taking an online class with Roben Marie Smith! I can't wait to get the journal covers made and more pages. I then plan to list them in my etsy shop! So stop back in and see when they are all done! Each one will be different! These are only a few pics I took below, all the pics can be found on my flickr site or on FB too, see the links on the side!
front of perennial garden

flower stand

new raised bed

one of the hanging baskets

rust dyed scarf

journal page one side

journal page one side

journal page one side

journal page one side

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Fun Times

While I was busy visiting and just having fun, Sally took some awesome pics of our dye day over at my friend Beth's farm on Saturday! You can see them here on Sally's blog.
My scarves are also sitting in plastic waiting to be unveiled tomorrow, to see how the rusty things dyed them! I will post pics as soon as I get them out and rinsed! Sally also dyed her felted sweaters in the natural dye pots, they turned out great! It was a fun day!

Tomorrow I will finally get my tomatoes and peppers planted in the new raised bed my hubby made for me and I will finally have my garden all planted! Now to catch up on my weeding!
New pics of the garden, journal pages and all tomorrow! Stop back by!!

Look Another Post!!

Well now that I have a blog, I guess I should add a couple more pics for you to see some NEW stuff I am playing with!
While Sally was here we did a couple of nites of some fun journaling pages to get me started again in doing my journals and try to have some pages ready to actually journal in! I am also working on new pages to create some new journals to hopefully sell in my etsy shop once I return from my little trip to PA to visit my dear friend Heather! The pages and covers will be quite fun and colorful. I learned to create them by taking a class with Roben-Marie Smith which was quite fun to do!! I am also taking the new class MaryAnn Moss is doing ....Full Tilt Boogie..... so watch out when I return I will not only have lots of fiber goodies but hope to have fun new journals and who knows what else......felting stuff too I'm sure once hanging out with Heather rubs off as well!! so Lots of new stuff coming up this summer so come along for the ride and see what's coming up!!