Long Time no see me! :)

Hi, all! Sorry you haven't heard from me alot, but it's been a busy summer so far!  Some good pals from Kaua'i came to visit me, then some pals from Texas...and next come some friends from Washington state!  It's been fun, but a little tiring for me.  I'm going thru' some medical tests to find out what's wrong with me.  I haven't had any creative energy lately, & the docs are trying to figure it all out.  Just know I love you all & think of you often!  (When I'm not sleeping the day away!)  I hope they figure it out soon as I have so many ideas of creative things to make!  Above you'll see some of my pals from Kaua'i.  I was so grateful that they came & blessed our home with their presence.  Please be patient with my tests!  I hope I'll be back to my old self soon!

Gorgeous Blogger Award!

Gorgeous Blogger Award!  (The Illustration didn't come thru', so I added this one!)

Oh how sweet! Just the other day, I received this award from a sweet fellow blogger, Lin. Thank you Sweetie! I really appreciate it! I love visiting her blog of handmade cards which you can see at her site here.
OK...now for the rules.....

 A. Accept the award and thank the person who gave it to you. ----DONE!

 B. List 10 things about yourself -----DONE!
  1. I'm 1/2 Italian & 1/2 Norwegian & should be in counseling!  :)
  2. I used to be an illustrator, but now am more into fine art.
  3. I was immersed in Cuernavaca to learn Spanish, and now that I need it, forgot most of it!  :)
  4. I've traveled to alot of the continents, but am now happy to stay home and create!
  5. I am a mixed media artist, as much as I try to narrow it down to one medium!!!
  6. I'm 5'4" tall & need to lose some weight!
  7. I love sports cars & hope to own another someday!
  8. I am married to the love of my life!  I never knew how happy you could be until I met him!
  9. My 2 priorities in life are creating, and loving my family and friends.
  10. I've just moved from Hawaii to New Mexico & am still getting used to where everything is & WHAT it is!  :D

 C. List 5 additional things you DON'T like ----DONE!
1. Bigotry
2. Racism
3. Gossip
4. Liars
5. War
 
Then pick ten people to give this lovely award to! The first person gets to pass it on!-----DONE!
 So hard to decide.....so I randomly picked bloggers who I like to visit :)  There's so many more but my computer is broke, so I don't have access to everyone I love!  Soon tho'!  I even missed my own Blogoversary!!!  ACK!

 1. JoTee's Art blog  ( I love her January doll!  See it here.)
 2. Matilda Labo's Art blog
3. Nancy's Blog Womankind
4. Griselda's Spirit Dolls and Assemblage Art
5. Danny Gregory's Blog
6. Bead Journal Project and all their blogs
7. Robin Atkin's Blog
 8. SpeedieBeadie
 9. Urban Sketchers
 10. Plays with Needles ( check out an old post here)

There really are a bunch more, but that's all I have for today!  So Sis, JoTee, you win the #1 Gorgeous Blogger Award!

February Progress on Oneness Project

So with all the other stuff I've been into, I'm kinda behind on the Oneness Project!  I'll catch up eventually.  But here's a little progress I've made on the February focal piece:

CC's Shabby Sachets

Y'all know I just love hearts!  They're my favorite motif!  So I have all these bits of fabrics, vintage laces, beads, painted fabric from pals, etc & just had to do something with them.  So I started making these Shabby Sachets.  They are not seamed, just cut out and sewn together...Shabby Style.  I stuffed them with a little stuffing & some lavender.  I have a ton leftover from Purple Haze I have to use up!  They smell so good, & I really relax as I hand sew each heart with love, of course!

ATCs

More ATCs to practice different colored pencil techniques 

so I can get back into colored pencil painting!

Compost

What do you get an earth guy for his birthday?  My mom couldn't decide, so she sent a check & he got himself a composter for our new yard!  Just in time to put in all that compost we've been saving!

Toothpicks???

Crazy me?  Nah!  Anyone ever heard of knitting with toothpicks?  Well I saw it online & just had to try!  OMG, did I learn alot!  Like glue a bead at the end of the toothpicks so they don't pick your finger!!!  And sand those babies!  So here's all I did before my fingers hurt:

New Addiction

 OK...here's the last puzzle picture I'm gonna be showing:

We have found a new addiction:

 Gotta keep these older minds alert!  :D

ATCs

I've wanted to get back into colored pencil painting, but for some reason I just haven't started.  So this last week I thought I could at least do a couple little ATCs.  The size is small so it's not so threatening.  I really had fun & am remembering all the techniques I used to use.  So here's the two I did this week:

They're just copies of things I've seen in magazines, but it's just practice so I don't get so stressed.  I did these on mat board.  Allows for alot of layers!  Anyway, hope you all have a great week!  

Happy creating!

Happy Spring!

I know we don't all eat ham at Easter, but Ron loves it!  

My sister-in-law had tamales in Oregon!  

I really like the acorn squash! Oh, and the devilled eggs!

 You can tell he's happy can't you?  

 

Tramway Birthday!

OMG!  Ron decided for his birthday that he wanted to go up the Tramway on the Sandia mountains & eat at the High Finance restaurant on top!  I was excited to be able to go with him!  It's fun to go from warm desert up to icy snow & see skiers & snowboarders!  So here's just a few pics from that special day!  (It sure was hard to edit down these pics!)

Here's Ron at the start of the tram. 

 Here comes our car!

 Here we go up over the first tower.

 Passing another car at the halfway point.

Looking down at the highest point.  See the snow start.

We're there! 

Check out the icicles!!!

 The Happy Birthday Boy!

Here's our ride down!

 This was such a fun day!  I just wish I could figure out the updated post editor so all these pics don't have to show up in a line like this.  I'm sure I'll figure it out, so bare with me!  Thanks!  Oh, & you can still click on the pics to make them larger...at least I hope so!  :)

New Babies!

I just couldn't bare to see out backyard without any green yet.  We need to wait awhile before we can plant.  So when I was at Costco, I got my first baby.  I named her Genie the Geranium.  Here's her pic from when she came home:

 

And then we stopped at Home Depot to get Ron's birthday present & I saw Rosie the Rosemary!!!  I just knew she had to come home with us & be a pal to Genie!  She smells divine!

 

Then we were back at Costco & I saw another beautiful pal for my other kids. 

There actually ended up being 3 starts in this one, so I called them Gerie the Geraniums  #1, #2 & #3.  You can see them at the bottom of the picture below.  

 So here's a pic of my new family:

  

I've had to take them in on some cold nights, 

but I love my flower & herb people! 

 

Santa Fe Bead Fest!

Yahoo!  I've been waiting to be on the mainland so I could go to something like this!!  It was overwhelming how many vendors there were!  But being basketmakers also, the first thing we bought at the bead show was a basket from Zimbabwe.  It helps the families in a village there.  Here's the pic of it...we just couldn't believe the weaving:

 

We actually did get a few beads!  Not many as we were really trying to stick to our budget.  But here are a couple pics:

 

Did a close up so you can see the beautiful copper owl locket I got.  Just couldn't resist it!  

I love owls so much!

Footprints in the ???

Ya know how when you go to the beach you make your footprints in the sand?  Well, I couldn't resist & do the same with the snow!  Crazy am I?  Nope!  Here's the evidence:

 Ya gotta love this Mother Earth of ours!

Winter Wonderland!

When it snows here, it makes me feel like I'm in a Winter Wonderland!  After coming from Hawaii, it sure is nice to see the seasons again!  Here's a couple pics of our last snowstorm:

It sometimes feels like I can see Santa & his reindeer...even in March!

Running into Problems

Well, the color for January was violet.  I had some Angelina fibers that said they were called "Purple Flash", so I thought they'd go well with the month.  But when I ironed them, they turned out all sorts of colors!!!  But I used it anyway & beaded over it.  Here's a pic of the different colors before and after:

 I hope you can see why I was so surprised!  It does have a flash of violet in places, & the beads went over it well.  I used the rest on a card I made for my DH's birthday!

January & February Progress on the Oneness Project

So here's some pics of January's progress:

 And here's a few of February's progress:

 I also have all three panels for January, February & March painted and ready to go!

 It's going to be interesting to find fabric that is metallic gold that I can bead on!

Why Photography is Important to an Artist

Some people have asked why I put a bunch of personal pictures on my blog when it's an art blog.  Well, I'm really working on practicing my photography.  I'm gonna need some good shots soon for some art I'm doing & want to know how best to use the little equipment I have.  So as an example, I took a picture of a candle using flash here:

 
And then I took a picture of the same candle at the same time using natural lighting.  Here's that picture:  

So you can see what different effects you can get just by the lighting you use.  I have ALOT to learn!

Living with OC

After that last post, I'm sure you'll be able to understand this next one!  Ya know how everyone has a junk drawer?  Well, I started one in our kitchen, and my darling husband decided to help me with it.  So here is a picture of our JUNK drawer:  

And you know what???  I really like how I can find whatever I need in there!  Thanks, sweetie!

A Pass time or addiction?

Well I guess it keeps us out of  trouble!  :)

Sorry about all of the mix up on this post...Blogger decided to get an updated post editor, & I haven't figured it out!  I just don't understand why they have to fix things that are already working!!!  Ack!