Up On The Rooftop...

No, I don't believe in Santa, but- two days ago 

after a snow melt I looked up at the roof 

of this two-story structure and saw... this!  

I just HAD to take a picture.

What do you think?
No reindeer hoof prints, 
no sleigh runner scrape marks...
just footprints.
(No ladder, either!!!)

A Christmas Quilt

From my quilt-making days in the late 1900's and eary 2000's.  I quilted these words in script along both white vertical borders:

PEACE JOY  
and LOVE
FAITH HOPE 
and HOLINESS

It reminds me of a little old country church during the holidays...

Trimming The Tree...

MERRY CHRISTMAS &

A JOYOUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Washi Woes

Every now and then I reach for my Washi Tape collection to add details to my paper arts.  Today I selected some silver star tape I have had for a while.  As I attempted to unwind it, it split lengthwise and I found myself having to pick at shreddies.  Soon I had little bits of tape under my fingernails.  It just would not unwind.

I had a clever idea, or so I thought:  since Washi Tape is waxy, maybe heating it up would help it release.  I zapped the roll of stubborn tape in the Microwave for one minute, and I was able to unwind a few inches before it split in two again.  Then it stuck to itself and no amount of picking at it would make it release.  

I repeated the Microwave treatment.  Apparently by that time I had cooked the tape into a permanent solid.  With reluctance I threw the mostly-full roll of pretty Washi tape in the trash.

Theory:  either there are different qualities of Washi Tape, or, it has an unknown expiration date.  Fortunately, most of my tapes still unwind with no trouble.  I hope no one else has experienced this frustrating scenario.

Rustic Paper Ornaments

Fronts

Materials:  
Brown Kraft Paper (paper bags)
Acrylic Paint (1 color + gold, silver or bronze metallic)
 Patterned fabric 
 Hanging cord or ribbon
 Fiber filling (stuffed animal polyfill)

Equipment: 
Sewing machine or needle and thread, scissors
Exacto knife and protective cutting mat                 

Instructions:

Lay out your brown paper flat on a surface where you will paint it.

Crumple up the paper. smooth out.

Paint your base color that will show through the gold, let it dry

Paint over with metallic paint, let it dry.

Cut out shapes like stars or diamonds, two matching pieces (front and back).

Cut out peek-a-boo windows like tear-drop shapes near the middle of the front piece of each ornament, using an Exacto knife on a protected surface.

Place patterned fabric behind the cut-out's (temporarily glue edges or pin) so that the right side of the fabric shows through the front piece windows of the ornament, then over-stitch (either by hand or narrow zigzag by machine) around the edges of each cut-out area.

Put both pieces wrong sides (inner sides) together, matching edges.  Pin edges if desired.

Over-stitch (use a medium-narrow zigzag) around the outer edge of each stuffed ornament almost to the top, but leave an opening with room to push polyfill inside.

Fill to desired puffiness.

Insert ends of a fabric or string/cord loop into the opening.

Holding the opening flat, stitch the rest of the way around the top, catching the hanging cord/thread/string in the stitches.

Done! 

Backs

Let There Be- Lights?

Two days ago, the temperature was in the 40's and it felt warm!  I figured it isn't going to get much warmer until April, so I started pulling out the Christmas decorations.  

Usually I cut 1 or 2 saplings with branches and stick them into the ground in the front yard before the freeze, then drape them with white twinkle lights.  

Last Year's Lights

But not this year.  

First I put up the scrawny fake tree on the front porch, weighing down the base with flat rocks so the winter winds wouldn't blow it over. 1/3 of the white twinkle lights weren't lit, so I unwound that long strand and switched over to regular multi-colored bulbs.  

The shrubbery-netting twinkle lights were half working, half not, so I draped them along the porch railings.  It looks like this will be the last year I use that bunch of lights...

I think the neighbors saw me putting up decorations because all of a sudden, the white twinkle lights on their porch went on.  A little friendly competition, ha ha ha.

A Goodly Amount of Snow

These pictures were taken at 7:30 a.m.

Later this morning the accumulation measured 17"

and it's still snowing.  Wheeeee!

An this afternoon- 23" of snow in the yard,  

with snowbanks piled up to 32."

Almost Dark

A pale thumbnail crescent moon 

slips in and out 

from behind the gray curtain 

of clouds at dusk...

And Yes, It's Piling Up

More fluffy white stuff started falling

through the night and it is

still coming down.

This is what I see out my windows now:

First Snow of The Year

This morning's fast-falling precipitation was apparently sleet.  Now, large swirling flakes are covering grass and trees.  We knew it was coming.  It always does.  We might see 7 inches of accumulation today.  It's a good thing I put away the lawn ornaments and cleaned up the veggie garden two days ago!!!  

SPECIAL THINGS

• Yellow poplar leaves of different sizes, round and tooth-edged, scattered like so much confetti on the shoulder of the road, skittering along when cars swish by.
• 
  
• Wild geese calling as they fly just above the bare treetops.
• 
  
• A crinkly Monarch butterfly riding on my hand all the way to the Post Office and back.  Watching it drink hummingbird nectar from a jar lid.  Checking on it while it stayed around all day until strong gusts of wind carried it (and the deck furniture) away. 
• 
  
• The full moon like a stadium light, brightening the midnight sky.
• 
  
• Orion's defining stars overhead, twinkling sharply in the deep dark canopy of a clear night.
• 
  
• A fickle breeze playing with the window curtains.
• 
  
• White frost outlining a fallen brown leaf.

• Hungry songbirds at the feeder waiting for me to add more seeds.
• 
  
• Finding two packs of usable salmon-colored copy paper discarded by the sidewalk.
• 
  
• Hearing from a long-silent distant friend.
• 
  
• Making my postmistress laugh despite the stress she faces everyday.

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

My Favorite Shoe Box

I've saved this shoe box cover for years.

Something about the simple graphics caught my attention.

Perhaps I might try painting in this style sometime.

Or, you could look at it upside down...

I see a watermelon slice...

Easy to amuse here, smiles...

Autumn-Themed Wall Quilts

If you've been following my blog through the years, you've probably already seen the last two quilts.  The first two are UFO's (in the quilting-world, that means Unfinished Objects).  I recently pulled them out of the piles of wall quilts/art quilts I have made and put them up, hoping that the sight of them would prompt me to finish constructing the one, and put the binding on the other: 

Twice-Blooming Rhododendron

One brave blossom began to open 

at the end of September.  

It's right in front of a window

where I look out, all through the day.

I've never known this plant to flower twice.   

Funky Fruit

These Sweet Sapphire black grapes are a new variety, very odd in shape, delicious in flavor.  They look like dark purple sausages.  I decided to freeze some so I go through the whole bag in one sitting, smiles.

New Gelli Prints

This afternoon I had a fun session 

with acrylic paints in the art room.

Here are some pairs of painted papers

with three views of each pair:

GROUP #1

8+1/2" x 11" Card stock

GROUP #2

8" x 10+3/4" Deli Wax Wrap Paper

GROUP #3

8+1/2" x 11" Card stock

All six of them

Arachnid Encounter & Orange Sky

This big beautiful creature was situated on a wall outside:

His body was almost an inch long, not counting his mottled legs.  I've never seen such unusual markings.

A storm came up this evening, the sky went from blue and grey to a strange shade of yellow, and then orange.  It rained so suddenly, it was like someone turned the shower on!

A Breath Of Fresh Air - updated

Take time to smell the flowers...

The Mammoth Sunflowers seeds

 did not disappoint, resulting in

large flower heads atop

very thick stalks, reaching at least 

10 feet tall.

A Larger Collage Project

After re-reading The Collage Workbook:  How To Get Started And Stay Inspired by Randel Plowman an idea popped into my mind:  to make a big piece using primarily black/red/tan/white.   The images I selected are mostly Vintage, although not all.  I took pictures of  the background, the background with paint scrapes, and some possible lay-outs but haven't glued down the collage elements yet.  Arrangement is subject to change.

Beacoup Gelli Prints

I decided it's time to part with some of my Gelli Plate prints, since I have quite a stack of them.   A friend encouraged me to list them on the  e t s y  site, so that's what I did over the long week- end after photographing and editing and grouping some of them together by coordinating designs/ colors.

Too bad I'm not into journalling at this time or doing much collage, as they would be useful for that and other projects.  (Some I couldn't bear to cut up, anyway!)  

The "shop" has been dormant for about five years, but after some time and effort I was able to figure out (again) how to configure everything, and set up fourteen listings (so far).  Take a peek at    studio13usa    to see some of my art.  

Happy Summer's end, all...

Here's a sampling: