Looking Out for Spring

Everyone is talking about Spring, but so far we have just a few shoots coming up and tree branches are still bare. Happily, we had a warmish, sunny day today and another is predicted for tomorrow. Can't wait for the trees to sprout some of those first spring green leaves, like the ones depicted in this fabric picture!

I did the picture in two layers, drawing the outlines in the top piece with heavier thread, then appliqueing a bit of lace and using colored pencils for the cats and the lower wall. For the bottom layer, I used normal weight thread to draw the tree and hand embroidered the leaves. The bird was so tiny I just fused it on!

This was an interesting technique, which I'm planning to use again, but next time I want to try coloring with smudgy pastel chalks. I think that would be a rich contrast with the crisp thread outlines.

Hope everyone who reads this is enjoying a great weekend!

Felt Daffodil Tutorial

I'd like to share this design with you - a pattern I created many years ago. It can be 

made with paper or felt, but I thought felt would be best for this tutorial. Please feel free to 

print and enlarge the pattern and use it however you'd like!

You will need: yellow and green felt, flower stamens (from a craft store),

 craft glue, a needle and yellow thread, and green florist's tape

First, cut the pattern out of yellow felt, using pinking shears where indicated.

Cut an X in the center of the blossom.

You'll also need 4 stamens, twisted together, from a craft supply store.

Put some craft glue on the bottom of the trumpet piece, lay the stamens on it 

and have your needle and thread ready.

Pinch the sides of the trumpet together and slip stitch the entire side closed. You can 

then pinch the bottom even more and shape and open the trumpet with your fingers.

Slip the bottom of the trumpet through the X in the blossom and pull it up.

 

Wind florist's tape around the bottom of the trumpet and the stamens.

If you would like the stems to be longer, twist a piece of cloth covered wire

around the bottoms of the stamens before wrapping in florist's tape.

You could pin one daffodil to your lapel with a corsage pin, 

or cluster a few together for a bouquet as I did.

I found a perfect little pot to put my bouquet in, after cutting a few narrow

green leaves from felt, and I held the bouquet straight in the pot by adding a few 

pebbles for stability.

This is only my second tutorial. My first was for a lace bird, which I made back 

in 2009. I enjoy creating my own patterns and designs and

hope to make more and share them with you. Hope this one was 

clear and that you'll try a daffodil or two for yourself!!

Happy Creating!

A Sunny Day

Although it has been in the mid thirties all day,

the sun was strong and the kitties found the sunniest spots in the house!

Angus wriggled with joy on a dining room chair

while Rosie slipped between the vertical blinds

 and spent the morning on the front window sill.

I managed to scoop Angus up for a photo with me,

but Rosie was elusive, as always.

It looks like she put herself in a corner, but I guess she felt cozy

in this little spot on the chair when the sun shifted away from the window!

Here's wishing everyone a great weekend!!

The Comfort of Creativity

Today I had a tooth pulled. Just imagine - it has been in my mouth for over 50 years and today someone pulled it out in less than a minute. Yes, it was in the very back corner of my mouth, cracked and infected and beyond hope, but I actually felt sad to lose it forever. I haven't lost a tooth since I had my wisdom teeth removed at 19.

On the way home, numb with novocaine, I treated myself to a tiny bit of retail therapy.

A small pad of scrapbook paper (this photo doesn't do justice to the colors)
and a little canister of half-size colored pencils,

plucked from the stationery department of a discount store. Cost? Less than five dollars!

I sat down and decided to use the limited color pallette of the paper pad,

 designed a little cut paper whimsy, and did the cutting while
watching tv after dinner.

The result - an impromptu spring design, and I'm feeling no pain.
Creativity is a wonderful distraction!

Welcome Spring!

Today was a sunny day, a good setting for the first day of spring. 

The air was chilly as Bill and I set off for a walk 

along the edge of the lake in our town. 

Looking up, we could see buds on some trees, and the sky was a brilliant blue.

I could imagine the transformation that will soon occur, as the neutral landscape

 transforms into every possible shade of green.

In one place, a trail led to a small patch of beach, where a mom and her child sat on the cold sand.

Like all of us, I'm sure they felt the hope and expectation in the air ~

warmth, growth and pleasurable days to come.

Welcome Spring!!!

Reasons to Celebrate

My heart is happy with the sunny weather we're experiencing, Spring is right around the corner, and Rosie and Angus are celebrating their first birthday!! A year ago these little guys were born in an empty garage and abandoned (they are not siblings and Angus is a couple of weeks older) but our local PAWS organization rescued them  and they went to a wonderful foster home until they were old enough for adoption. PAWS had an adoption event at our veterinarians office and there we fell in love with little Rosie. Angus had already been put in a foster home, where we saw him shyly hanging back while other  kitties chased a toy. They were both so cute back then, and it has been a rewarding adventure bringing them up to this point.

                           Baby Rosie and Little Angus

Now they are a year old and into everything -

I caught Angus hanging over the stair railing the other day,

while Rosie looked startled as I caught her scurrying up from downstairs!

Outside, the snow is about 99.9% gone, a random patch of white still hanging on in shady places,

but Spring is definitely in the air! And everyone is more than ready for it after a long winter!

When I next post here, it will be the first day of a new season!

Have a lovely weekend!!

A Day of Silence

                                

Like most other people, my heart is heavy these days as I see the news reports about the horrifying  disasters in Japan. I'll be observing the Bloggers Day of Silence tomorrow, which I found out about on Lyn's blog. You can learn more about it here.