100 Days of Faces!

I'm joining a group on Instagram, a challenge called

The 100 Day Challenge.

Yes, 100 days, and my choice of subject is "Faces".

As I read about this project, what struck me was that

this is a good way to really improve in doing something,

and I would like to improve in my ability to draw faces.

I'm not quite sure how I'll go about this - some days a sketch,

some a painting or stitched piece - I'll have to see.

My head is full of ideas and my goal is to loosen up

and have fun.

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

Happy Spring!

As I hear rain and sleet flicking against the window behind me and watch the weatherman on TV predicting snow all day tomorrow,  I try to convince myself that it is, indeed, Spring. I have purchased a little primrose plant and some tulips from the supermarket, to tide me over until shoots actually push through the hard winter soil. Spring will come, but it is definitely taking its time!

This morning we had a beautiful dawn, as recorded by my neighbor in this photo of my house. This is the back of the house and you can see the porch I love so much over to the right. Unfortunately I was still sleeping at the time this was taken and missed the lovely show!

I've been taking an evening class in Paper Collage this month and it's been a lot of fun. We have one more class left, then we'll go on to a new one - possibly drawing. The same core group of people  (including me) take classes together, so we have great camaraderie and many laughs as we work.

The first piece is the one I'm working on, and a sampling of others' creations are below

We are doing these pieces on canvas with an acrylic medium holding the paper in place.

I hope all who read this will have a great weekend.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will be our last snowfall of the year!

Happy Spring!!

Back Home!

I've been away with my husband on a trip to California where we visited family and had a lovely, restful week. I had my iPad with me and somehow was not able to capture my photos on Blogger (I'm used to using my laptop at home), so was unable to blog.

I did some sketches while away, and a tiny bit of embroidery. Here are the drawings I did on the plane.

I'm hoping to turn them into colored drawings soon. My re-entry back into "real" life has been a bit challenging, especially when leaving behind beautiful sunshine and returning to freezing temps and, today, snow! And promises of a hearty Nor'easter next week!

I'll post again soon with photos from our trip.

Wishing everyone a great weekend!!

Sunday Stitches

I worked on my embroidered mandala last night as my husband and I watched Mercy Street and Victoria on Public Television. On a whim, I decided to add birds to the mix - time consuming but fun. I tried to figure out how to do them as simply as possible. I have to say, I'm really enjoying this project.

It was a snowy weekend, but the snowfall ended earlier than expected today, which gave us a chance to get out to an appointment and some errands. The weather is so unpredictable around here in February!

And, of course, some members of the family hunkered down to sleep all day!

And I received a lovely surprise today from my Sweetie and thought I'd share it with you!

Here's wishing you a very happy

Valentine's Day!!

Hope you're finding some time for creativity!

Friday Faces

Hello friends - I hope you've had a great week.
Have you been up to anything creative?

Among other things, I've been working on a sketch for a new stitched profile picture.

This is my drawing which I'll transfer to fabric,
 then use some machine and hand stitching on it.

Cats always feel they need to get in on the act, don't they?

I've also been doing some other portrait sketches - 

they start out more detailed, then I simplify them to make them 

more suitable for stitching.

I'm trying to build up a set of stitched faces, for which I'll make up

little stories, then try to decide how to incorporated the 

stories into the pictures.

We just had a snowstorm here in northern New England yesterday,

with a possibility of more storms coming up.

It sounds like many people are having dreary, messy winters all over, 

which is a good reason to stay inside and be creative.

I hope, wherever you are as you read this, that you will have a 

wonderful weekend. I'm so happy you stopped by!

Sunday Stitches

It's amazing how they add up -

 tiny bits of progress on my '1 Year of Stitches' project.

This week I finished my circle of leaves and I'm wondering

what I'll add next. Somehow a new idea never fails to come

and I actually look forward to inventing a new detail for each row.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

I hope you'll have a creative week!

Friday Faces

Lola

In spite of her demure expression,
Lola can stand up for herself.
Like a certain famous Mary,
she has SPUNK!

(Miss you, Mary Tyler Moore.)

I think Lola would look nice in a

sweet little vintage collage.

What do you think?