Merry Christmas

Looking through the window.........Turtle Island rises above the ice..........














 

I've made a few tatted gifts and sent them on their way.........

little snowflakes to hang on the tree........
















Our guests will be arriving soonfor our Christmas Gathering. We'll eat, and talk, open presents, and enjoy each others' company.  We shall walk in the outdoors, sing carols, play games, and admire the tree. Bird seed will be scattered on the ground for our feathered friends. 


However you celebrate the season, may you be blessed with the company of family and friends. May your gatherings be joyful, and filled with laughter and love. 
Thank you for being a part of my world in 2011. 

Blessings to you all!                                                                 See you in 2012!


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Boho Bag Beginnings

Gerry  Krueger of Older Rose blog and Block Talk with Gerry had a giveaway a little while ago, and I was so lucky to win.
Here's what I found inside the box she sent me:

ribbon-wrapped and what's that little round shape on her card?

 Wow! It's one of Gerry's fabulous hand-painted MOP buttons! Isn't it beautiful?


I love how the rose just glows!

beneath the wrapping was this roll of fabric.......

more roses.....perfect!
I love this pattern!

I opened it up to find all this!
  A wonderful assortment of delicious fabrics and trims!

here's a closer look

I love the ribbon with the beaded trim, the gimp, the ...well, everything.









Thank you so much Gerry!

Now, I'm heading back to Gerry's Boho bag tute. You can check it out here. I think I'll be sewing for a few days.......

Hope you're having a creative day.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

2012 Challenges

              2012 Challenges



Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge.

Well, I've really done it, now.  I signed up for TAST 2012! I've been enjoying CQing so much, but I needed to improve my embroidery skills. Buying an embroidery stitch bible gave me a reference, but I wasn't practicing my stitches. Participating in TAST  might be the impetus I need to get to work!




                                Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012.

Then I read about CQJP 2012. It sounded like a wonderful idea---to create a CQ block each month. I know I need that pressure to work harder, to learn more, and become a more skilled CQer. What better way?........so I joined...... gulp!



 I read a post on Stitchin Fingers from Debra who was organizing a smaller group of people doing 1 or both of the embroidery challenges.( There's even one brave soul adding the BJP 2012 as well!) Debra was hoping to have a study group who would support each other, encourage, and inspire. I jumped in! What was I thinking?! Well, I was thinking I needed all the help I could get, heheheh, and that accountability is a wonderful motivator.

Our group is called  Tuesday Stitchers.  You are welcome to bookmark our blog, become a follower, make comments and ask questions. I'm a relative beginner to CQing, but many of the ladies in this group are very experienced quilters and embroiderers. They have fabulous ideas, and I know you'll see some beautiful work!

I'm also on the list for several StitchMap courses in the New Year, so I'm looking forward to being very busy with needles and thread. I hope I can keep up!

Obviously, my focus for 2012 will be on stitching and CQing. I do hope I can post about my paintings, too. We'll see how I cope with the challenges.

Here's a pic my sister took last weekend of the bay. Isn't it a great shot?

It's been raining, and the four inches of snow have been washed away.
Now, I'm off to begin making the blocks for my quilt challenge.
Hope your day has some good challenges.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Christmas Cards: Funky Tree

I've been making cards for Christmas. First, I prepared a mylar stencil of a Christmas Tree sketch. It's a little bit funky.

the mylar is placed over a card and the opening dampened

first some green

then some blue

the mylar removed to show the tree






the drips and splotches add to the effect

some dried cards

different color combinations


some look fat

some are colorful

some are just a little weird

The cards are ready for the next step..........

a little gold here and there

Once dry, I added some glitter glue, and more gold on the edge to make the cards look like this:

Now I have to send them on their way to family and friends.

It's fun to make my own cards

Hope you receive many wonderful cards this Christmas Season.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

My Block Came Home

Stacie and I agreed to do each other's block. My block came home!
I forgot to take a pic of my naked block before I mailed it out. silly me.

But here's what it looks like now:






Isn't it fabulous?!







The theme was creepy crawlies


Stacie created a garden setting with a water feature


delightful flowers

I love the hint of an arbor and the climbing roses that wind their way across the block top and down the sides




I love that spider!

a dragonfly, a beaded tree, and fabric flowers

lots of little plants, and critters skittering about

I even have a frog prince on a lily pad





Do you suppose if I kissed him, he'd turn into a real Prince?  lol





Stacie has added a  delightfully light touch to this CQ, and I loved how she included a water feature. Beads and thread waves carry my frog prince ever closer.......

Thank you so much Stacie. I so enjoyed our 1:1 CQ RR. It was a bit of a challenge for me, but I certainly LOVE my block!
Hope you're having a creative day.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Inspiration Sunday December 4, 2011

Last week I left off here:

I've made some progress, but it's been slow going.
It's week 1 of our choir Christmas concerts, so with a dress rehearsal, and three performances, I haven't had as much time to paint as I would like.

on the left is my reference photo

I added more of the background and a few more reflections

this is two hours' work

a closer look

 I made a correction to the reflection on the stopper ring, added more background, refined some lines

after another two hours, I've added more reflections, added highlights, and brightened certain areas













As you can see, there's still more work to do


I love the results so far. It's just taking a lot longer than I'd imagined.



Maybe I'll be finished next week?

 Here's my quirky bird, spotted in a hardware shop, and rescued to come home with me. Don't you just love that hat?

 
a shot of the bay after the snow

Turtle Island with a white covering. The snow is  melting, now, in the mild temperatures





Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday. I'm off  to get ready for our concert. La la la la
Thanks for visiting
Hugs from Suz

Paying It Forward

I found out about it here, and Wanda found out about it there. It's paying it forward, doing a little something to say thank you, and gifting it to have it snowball.
To play, be one of the first three people to respond to this post, and I'll send you a hand-made gift. In so doing, you also agree to pay it forward, and send out three hand-made gifts, too. Okay?
Who wants to play?

Here's what Wanda sent me:

a postcard and a package.........wonder what's inside

 a lovely little traveling tin decorated with Wanda's beautiful tatting. Isn't it pretty?.........hm, there's something inside that tin...........

a pretty, decorated shuttle, needle threader, sewing needles, and a ball of tatting thread!
I love it all, Wanda! Thank you!




Hmmm, this is the second tatting shuttle I've received as a gift. Maybe somebody's trying to tell me something?




Hope you're having a creative day.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Inspiration Sunday November 27, 2011

Hello. Sorry I missed last Sunday: my satellite connection died a week ago Friday so I was without the internet and a phone for a week. So, you might think that would mean I got a lot done,  right?  Ummm, no.
It seems I also have a sinus infection, so I wasn't feeling up to much, I'm afraid. The meds gave me some unwanted side effects, so now I wait until Monday to call the dr. for another prescription. I'm sure I'll be feeling fine before long.
In the meantime, I did start my painting.
The Challenge:
card 1:-  choose your favorite color, and create a painting using different hues and values of the color. Use also the color you like least.
card 2:- paint glass arranged in an interesting way.
I first thought of broken glass, wondering how it might reflect the light and color. Then I thought of crystal and how the cuts in the glass fractured the light. I played around with several crystal containers, but finally chose the following:
The inspiration:

The decanter lid, turned upside down onto an old painting creates interesting color fractures

Once I blew up the photo and intensified the light, I could see more defined areas within the glass.
I wanted to capture the variations, so, although I used my favorite Antwerp Blue, and my least favorite Naples Yellow Red, in attempting to recreate the colors in the photo, I would have to deviate somewhat from card 1.

Since the correct angles would be crucial for a realistic representation, I traced the shape of the decanter lid, rubbed the reverse with a 2B pencil, then 'drew' it onto my watercolor paper.
Although I do want to paint a representation of the glass, and the color reflections, I am not concerned with photo-realism, so I didn't trace the areas of reflection.

I began laying in different washes of color

adding some background

This represents approximately four hours of painting. I hope to return to this over the next week and have a completed painting by next Sunday

My Christmas cactus has been blooming.

a shot of Turtle Island on a cold November morning.
the mist is barely visible, but I love all the different colors in the rocks and the reflections






It's grey and raining here today, but I hope you have a little sunshine in your day.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz