Bits and Pieces

Yesterday morning I sat at my sunny dining room table and prepared materials for some Artist Trading Cards I'll soon be making. Ah, the feel of paper and scissors, colors and  textures - so simple and yet so satisfying! I'll post the results soon.

I've been in a bit of a creative funk lately - winter, bitter cold right now, less sunlight - er... laziness, perhaps? In any case, I do want my blog to be active and up to date, so I may be posting some less than stellar offerings - just to stay in the loop!
For one thing, I got together with a friend recently and did some needle felting! We used as a reference a book called Little Felted Animals by Marie-Noelle Horvath and attempted to make Jack Russell Terriers. Here are our results, created with much laughter and a bit of finger stabbing with barbed needles!! Lots of fun!

Our weather here in New England has been pretty erratic this past week. Monday we had a most beautiful, warm and lovely day. Spring jacket weather! Tuesday brought a fairly heavy snowfall which frosted trees and bushes, creating a Christmas card sort of winter wonderland.

This was quickly followed by some milder weather, melting nearly all the snow. This is the same view out of my dining room window.

Right now we're back to frigid temperatures and the coming week promises to be our coldest yet this winter. It is said that Mark Twain once remarked "If you don't like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes." Judging from this past week, I'd say that's pretty accurate!

And finally, a couple of shots of my little friends -

Angus, looking rather indignant with crossed "arms", on the back of a chair,

And Rosie, as always, in the middle of anything I'm reading or doing!!

Here's wishing everyone who reads this a very good weekend!

A Simple Craft Project

This box once held some delicious chocolates, and I've saved it for some time,

 knowing that it would make a perfect holder for my everyday jewelry.

I had this great piece of embossed gold paper in my stash, and decided to cover

just the top of the box with it, wrapping it around the entire cover.

I also had a great piece of cream and gold trim which I glued 

around the edge, then sewed on a pearly cream bead with flat sides

to make lifting the top easy.

I glued the back of the cover to the back of the box and ended up with

a nice place to keep my earrings and pendants which are usually 

strewn over the surface of my dresser.

It might be a bit simple for Lady Mary Crawley, 

but I'm very happy with my upcycled jewelry box!

Hope you're having a great week!

Sketches

I've been spending the days lately organizing my fabric and threads, but like to sketch when I'm watching TV at night. Sometimes these sketches become embroideries, sometimes not.

Here's a typical evening scene - Rosie on the back of my chair, chirping for me to pat her.

She refuses to sit on any person's lap, but likes to be patted if you don't look at her!

Do we need the cat psychiatrist here for a visit?

...Which brings me to this imaginary portrait of me with my kitties-

imaginary because (a) they would never sit so peacefully together,

and (b) Rosie would never be sitting so sweetly on my lap!!

And finally, a little machine embroidered sketch. I'm practicing going around tight curves because I'd like to try machine stitched handwriting. I need lots of practice!!

 Hope your Monday has been a good one!

A Bright and Shiny New Year

  Original papercut by Judy Hartman  

I'm so happy to begin the seventh year of this blog, as well as the new year, 2013. I love everything about a new year. The process of taking down Christmas decorations, putting away gifts and cleaning the house gives me a feeling of fresh new beginnings. I'm also a hopeless goal setter and take pleasure in shaping new challenges for the coming months - ideas for artwork, health, and self improvement.

Last night, my husband and I went to a gathering at my friend Janice's house,
where Janice shared with me some of her wonderful mixed media artwork. Janice and I made a "pinky swear" to exchange ATCs every month, as we had done in past years. My goal is to make cards based on nature, and I'll share our exchange each month here.

I also plan to create more stitched artwork, and to revive my long dormant blog, Paper Perks, with more cut paper art.

I want to wish all of my readers a very happy and productive New Year. Thank you for hanging in there with me, for putting up with my long gaps between postings and for your thoughtful comments. I'm looking forward to a rich, creative year for all of us!!

Happy New Year, one and all!