Classy Old Singer

Still on my vacation, every time I stepped off the elevator at the hotel I admired this gorgeous sewing machine.  It was in very pristine condition... *sigh*

Black River Views

During my redent visit to Northern New York State, I stopped along the Black River in Watertown, New York to take pictures of the limestone cliffs which are filled with fossils.  I remembered black raised circular protrusions, maybe chert, which almost resembled cross sections of tree trunks.  I was unable to get down to them to take pictures at this time, but the river was pretty.  Yes, Autumn colors are here and there... 

Take A Picture - It Will Last Longer

Before I tackled canning a double batch of Green Tomato Marmalade, I just felt like grabbing the camera and spending a little time outdoors taking pictures.  (I have added some gladiolas to a previous post.) These were fun to set up:

Metal Lotus Pod (Broken Watering Can)

Bee Balm (smells good!)

Just picked, almost ripe...

Bookmarks

Finally, I was able to spend some time in the craft room/art studio putting together some book marks for an upcoming swap.  A few more are awaiting finishing touches. Starting out with the marbleized (imported) hand-made papers, I was reluctant to cover them.  A few bits of collage here and there, a wrap of gold thread, a marbleized doily, gold and silver pens, rubber stamped images on paint-stained paper towels...  fancy fibers for tassels, and-  Voila!

Fronts

Reverse side:  third one in is NOT a dog...

And later the next day...

Front

Back

Glad

This year I planted winter's survivors near the road by the fence between properties.  They are late opening, it's almost autumn here.  But the rainbow of cheery colors will be worth the wait.  This stalk of pink gladiolas broke, so I rescued it.  The others are still blooming outside  Don't they make you glad just to look at them?

Bird Post Cards

These are three recently constructed tone-on-tone collage cards I decided to send in to the MMSA group swap.  Vintage bird designs have a certain charm...

Magic Mesh and grass-embedded paper

Marblized paper and Magic Mesh on petal-embedded paper

Magic Mesh 

Party Plans

A trip is in the planning stages, and since I will be traveling through an area where I used to live, I thought I would throw a pajama party for some friends there.  I know, I'm not ten years old anymore. But hey, why wait until a funeral to get friends together?

First, I asked each one to bring a favorite dessert or snack.  One of them is famous for different varieties of cheesecake, so I'm hoping...  Another offered to make mint chocolate brownies.  It gets better and better!

Then I chose a color theme.  (Do you think I've guest-hosted one too many post card swaps?)  Pink and Green.  I like those two colors together.  Like a peony bush.  I wandered through two Dollar stores and a BigLots, looking for inexpensive little accents to brighten up the room. Here's a hand-crafted project to add to the ambiance:  wrap-around sleeves for battery-powered candles. With scrapbook papers, ribbons and double-stick tape, they were quick and easy to assemble.