Tired of Snow!

It's official - I'm tired of snow,

(I know I'm not the only one)

and this is my last snow picture of the winter!

 Traditionally, February is our

snowiest month,

but I plan to concentrate on lush colors, 

beautiful flowers,

and images of people,

not in snow!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Warmly,

Judy

My 300th Post

I'm so happy to be posting my 300th blog entry! I love blogging, sharing my artwork and reading the blogs of other artists and friends! What a wonderful community we bloggers have!

Today I finished up the little tote bags I was working on in my last post. After filling them with granola bars, toothbrush, toothpaste and a toy, I packed them up and brought them to the post office, just before a series of snow squalls hit our area. They will eventually find their way to children in Haiti, so it was a privilege to decorate them.

The border trim came from some great Laurel Burch fabric I had squirreled away, and don't you love these soft flower buttons? I found them at JoAnn's Fabrics. It was fun to work with such bright colors for a change.

Totes for Haitian Children

Today I had the pleasure of sitting on my porch, working on decorating some little tote bags which will be sent to children in Haiti. I saw this request on Cat's blog, "Baumcat", which I always enjoy reading.

The bags are being collected by Debbie Woodward who is part of Real Hope For Haiti. The bags, containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, 3 granola bars and a toy, will go to a rescue center or orphanage in Haiti. Debbie would like the bags to be sent by the end of January, which doesn't give much time.

Details, directions for drawstring bags and the address to send them to are on Cat's blog here.
It just feels good, besides sending money, to do a little hands-on something to help.

Another group working to help is Craft Hope for Haiti, an Etsy shop set up by the big hearted folks at Craft Hope, whose motto is "spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time". The Craft Hope for Haiti shop has already made $27,000 from handmade items donated by artists and crafters. There are beautiful items for sale there, plus an opportunity to donate handmade items to help the cause. They will be accepting the next round of donations in early February. You can check out the link and possibly do some Valentine's Day gift shopping while helping a good cause!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Flowers and Sushi

I bought myself this sweet primrose plant at the supermarket

for less than $2! Its vibrant color is so welcome

in the middle of winter.

 

I applied a green border and finished this sushi picture

for my daughter Kate, who is visiting this weekend.

                                        

Here's a close-up photo showing the texture of the stitches. Kate likes

 quirky things as well as sushi, so this will hang in her kitchen in Toronto.

I told her that not

many moms make sushi pictures for their daughters!!

She is here to attend a conference and give a workshop at MIT

in Cambridge this week. I'm very proud of her!

I'm hoping to get some good work done this week!

This first month of the year is slipping by so quickly and I've been feeling like I'm accomplishing very little! Then I realized that my workspaces are still very cluttered from holiday projects, leaving me with little 'creative space'. So today I began decluttering, starting with the desk where my sewing machine lives. It took only an hour to put away the threads, bobbins, scissors, pens and pencils that covered the surface. It looks much more inviting now! I moved the sewing machine down to the end until I need it, which gives me room to draw designs and prepare projects.

Yesterday, while I was out shoveling snow, I heard a veritable chorus of birdsong! I looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a flock of birds in my neighbor's trees. They were either resting or looking for food, but I'm sure they found plenty in the many bird feeders in our neighborhood!

                

And this little fir tree in front of our house looked like a holiday card with its frosted branches!

Hope everyone who reads this is having a great week!

Warmly,

Judy

Snow and Rain

Rain and snow and ice and dreariness...

After shoveling, a good day to stay inside!!!

And, you might ask, where is new artwork from this fabric lady?

In my mind and on sketch paper at the moment -

must get moving and bring some of these ideas into reality!

And today, remembering a great man - Martin Luther King.

How Cute is This?

Like most cats, Kristy loves to find little spaces to hang out in. Lately she's been loving this crevice between the two square tables that serve as a coffee table in our living room. She had just finished washing herself and was putting her paw down when I snapped this. I think she looks like she is practicing a dance from "A Chorus Line"!
Although she looks like a kitten, Kristy is actually 15 or 16 years old. We didn't know her exact age when we adopted her from a shelter, but she has always been a very little cat (6 lbs as I write this).
Sadly, her age is catching up with her and her kidney function is going down and she has a serious heart murmur. We'll be taking her for some xrays soon, but we know she won't live forever. Meanwhile, we give her all the lap time, pats and attention we can.  She still seems to have a good appetite and good energy.
She's our little sweetie!

Creative Cue: "East"

I signed up to participate in a challenge called "Creative Cue" from Three Creative Studios when the new year began. Each week a cue will be given and this week's cue was "East". At first I thought of the snow we're experiencing here in the eastern part of the country, but I'm a little tired of making snow scenes. Instead I decided to make a plate of sushi! I embroidered this by hand and used watercolor pencils for a little color. I'm going to put a border on it and make it into a little pillow for my favorite sushi lover!

Unfortunately, I've decided not to continue with this challenge. I love Three Creative Studios and everything that Terri, Sue and Vicki do, but I've decided to pursue a few categories of ideas of my own for the year. Among them are People watching, Little Sweeties, Snapshots and Adornments.  You'll see what these categories are about as time goes on. I'm actually trying to organize my thoughts and plan ahead for a change! This is very unlike me, and I'm looking forward to producing some new work!!

A New Name!

I've made a small change in my blog, a new name which, I hope, reflects my intentions in creating positive, joyful and sometimes humorous images with fabric and thread. My blog address is still the same, so I hope you'll continue to visit as we all embark on a new adventure in creativity for the new year!

Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Judy 

Happy New Year!

A new year always feels fresh and promising to me. I find it hard to believe that it has been three years since I began this blog! It has gone through many changes and there are more to come! I'm looking forward to a fresh new year of blogging and creating and to meeting even more talented bloggers and seeing their creations!
For now, I am on my way back from sunny California to what promises to be snowy Boston!

Here are a few bits of nature which I have enjoyed immensely during my visit...

Back to reality in a few hours, but with happy memories of family, fun and sunshine to carry us through the rest of the winter!

Happy New Year everyone!

Warmly,

Judy