Water and Ice

The lake ice was breaking up, and DH brought a chunk into the house......

holding it up to the window, I could see the crystal perforations...... looking like glass rods fused together.....

I turned on the light for a different result....there seems to be a bug caught in the layers of ice

 all along the road, the ditches were filled with water, and ice

ice that looked fractured

and I could see the light reflections each fracture seemed to create

the snow was still in the bush, although it was slowly disappearing

Though the long driveway was now bare, winter was hanging on tightly

Rockman didn't seem to care that it was almost the end of April, and winter had not yet disappeared

puddles in the road wore icy cloaks, too

approaching the beaver dam, the water flowed swiftly, creating a loud roar I had heard  at the house for the last week

the thaw had begun

roiling and boiling over the granite below

 that bright white in the upper right is the glare of the sun on the frozen beaver dam

the water broke through the dam as the thaw had begun in the forest, but the ice prevented the beavers from stopping the leaks

and so the water pooled, and cascaded over the dam, over rocks

creating a world of water and ice....

 the white is the foaming water spewing from the breach in the dam

churning in small pools

and sweeping along the bedrock

flowing downhill past huge boulders to the lake

 over logs

 Spring is on the way!


Finally!





I hope that wherever you are, you are warm and dry and enjoying sunshine.

I have a houseguest staying with me and probably won't be online much over the next few days.




Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Glue Gun Fun 2

I tried to post the pics of my walk to the beaver dam, but blogger was not playing nice, so.........this post I'd already written will have to suffice until blogger decides to be good.............


All the cards finally dried, and I laid the glue gun stencils onto the watercoloured surfaces.

It was fun choosing which stencil to use, and sometimes I changed my mind partway along......

 I wondered how the solid, thicker glue stencils would work in comparison to the sparkle glue ones

On some cards I used white acrylic with a bit of pink interference

On others, I used a white and gold blend



and on a few I used quinacridone gold and red oxide

I used a short bristle brush, and dabbed on the paint, pressing and pouncing over and around the stencils

 sometimes the stencil was clearly defined


and other times there was not enough contrast for the design to show clearly

this one just looked boring

this was a little unclear

I liked the soft gentle look of this one- sort of faded

the design showed up really well on the dark cards when I added white

and on the light cards when I added dark paint

 soft, but fading into the background

I added red pen to outline the design

It seems to define it well

 it made the cards look better

a black pen really helped to show the love

 I used red here and there

and I think these babies look better with the pen

This is my favourite one

Which one do you like the best?


What I learned:

- a thicker stencil is easier to use to pounce on the paint
- strong colour contrasts work better for a well-defined design
-holding down the stencils with a finger or two means that I will wear some paint
- the thinner glue stencils tended to move around more easily, and bounce with each pounce
- the stencils tend to stick to my fingers
- this was FUN!

I think I may just do this again.

Hope you've been having fun, too.



Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Stitching Progress and The Lake

Here's my stitching progress for last week:




I intertwined two rouleau loops and added a rouleau ring through them

later I added a frill to the ring












 a frilled bumpy bit and a buttonhole stitched trim on cutwork, keep each other company
















 a 5-knot rouleau loop, held in place with French knots
















 

piece #3 to date
there's lots more to do
CQJP Progress

I finished wrapping the bars on this seam treatment






















added pale green bullions...
oops, one is listing the wrong way...















pretty pink gimp trim





















and April is almost finished


just a couple little seams that are as yet unadorned
















Spring is on the way!

 the ice is breaking up on the lake
Yay!

it didn't take long for these mallard ducks to move in once there was open water

(sorry it's blurry)

I've taken a hike up to the beaver pond. The water has been thundering for the last couple of weeks.
I'll share pics of my walk next time.
The water levels are high, and there has been a lot of flooding here and there around the countryside.

Hope wherever you are, there is sunshine, and you are safe, warm, and dry.



Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz