Summer Time and Fairies...

There is just something about little girls, summer time, and fairies...

A couple of weeks ago the girls and I went to Days of Yore Herb and Flower Farm in Wellington for their annual Fairy Festival...

There were lots of little Fairy homes to see, things to make, and stories to hear. There were also lots of flowers and herbs to smell, touch, and even taste. We also got to make our own Fairy Garden and enjoyed a tea party too...

The best part though was seeing my own Summer time Fairies looking like they were mysteriously up to something! Happy and Blessed Fourth of July!

A Collage to lift the spirit...

On Sunday evening, I was able to put the girls to bed a little early (they were very tired from a very busy weekend!). This meant that I had the time to finish this collage that I was making for my Aunt Georgia...

I'm putting it in the mail tomorrow, bound for East Aurora, New York. I want her to be able to smile and relax a little every time she looks at it. She is always the first person to volunteer to help someone, or do what she can to help those in need. Perhaps this is a small way that I can return her kindness. Have a wonderful and cool weekend. (We have had 90 degree temps and humidity here in Ohio!)

The start of some Cozies...

I have started to cut wool for six coffee cozies. I started needle felting the rust/orange colored wool this evening. Can't show you yet but I'm using the gray wool/alpaca blend in the picture. I wanted at least one to be a little more masculine, I love needle felting flowers but they are not exactly gender neutral!

Once I get a few of them needle felted I will be glad to post more pictures. My lighting was not the best this evening and this picture does not do the vibrancy of the colors justice, hopefully, I will have better lighting over the weekend. Have a Blessed week!

And the winner of the Coffee Cozy is...

First, thank you to everyone that left a comment and gave me some great tips on making more time for my art!

As you can see, this was done very scientifically. I feel a drum roll playing in my head right now...

Suzanne, "Painter of the Past" has won the Coffee Cozy! Suzanne is an outstanding painter, you can check out all of her work on her blog at www.peartreeprimitives.blogspot.com Congratulations Suzanne! I will be sending you an email as well. This was fun, I may have to do this again. As for my whispers, I have started to cut out patterns for several coffee cozies. Fiona's art teacher at school, is a wonderful artist and makes and sells art dolls at some of the local wineries (Northwest Ohio has a thriving winery industry) and she told me the thing that works best for her is to do everything in steps; work on one "step" a night. So, right now I am cutting out patterns. Have a wonderful week!

A Collage to Lift the Spirits...

My mother's cousin(I call her Aunt Georgia) had heart surgery about three months ago. As with most heart patients, since the surgery, even though it was successful, the road to recovery can be long and trying...

Aunt Georgia is not only a very independent woman, but also the primary caregiver for her husband who has Parkinson's Disease. She has been feeling very down lately, and I wanted to do something for her that would lift her spirits a bit. She is a devout Catholic and her faith is stronger than anyone I know. Whenever I have needed extra prayers for something, I have always given her a call and asked her to pray for me. I joke a lot of times that she has a personal phone line to God, but I actually believe it...

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:25-26. I know this will make her feel a bit better. I'm finishing it up tonight, I will post the completed pictures before I send it to her. I'm also going to start a new piece of paper cloth tonight, I will post some of those pictures as well... Have a Blessed week!

A day at the Rose Garden...

My sister, Gretchen, lives in Lorain, right across the street from Lakeview Beach. I took the girls over there last weekend and we all walked over to the rose garden. It was a beautiful day, sunny, cool, just enough clouds for some occasional shade and about 1,500 roses...
Lakeview Beach has been around since the turn of the 20th century. About five years ago, Lorain County Metroparks took over the care of the beach and the park from the city of Lorain. They have done massive amounts of improvements, including, restoring this vintage rose garden...
The rose garden was originally built and planted in 1934 by a city garden club. During the 70's and 80's it of course fell into disrepair. With the help of a group of very dedicated volunteers, the Lorain County Metroparks started renovating and restoring it almost three years ago...
There are dozens and dozens of antique varieties of roses, including some that are quite rare. And it smells wonderful!! Newer varieties of roses don't have as much scent as the old ones. When the wind blows right, my sister says that sometimes she can smell the roses on her front steps...

It was an absolutely beautiful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon in the summer. Have a wonderfully Blessed week!

A cozy to warm my coffee or yours...

I made a coffee cozy for myself about three years ago. I have made several more since than as gifts for friends and family. I started this one about a month ago for myself and I finally finished it this evening. It is made from hand dyed wool, both the felt and the roving. I use a coffee sleeve as a template and cut out the felted wool, I then needle felt and embroider the design.

Once the design is finished I sew a cotton backing to it and blanket stitch a border. They are fairly simple to make and are useful and sustainable. To quote Kelly Rae Roberts from her book "Taking Flight; Inspiration & Techniques to give your Creative Spirit Wings" I've been hearing gentle whispers lately. I have had several people tell me that I should be selling these in local independent coffee shops. There are three in my area within a 25 mile radius. My biggest hurdle is finding the time to make them. I would LOVE to hear how all of you creative, crazy busy, artsy women make the time to listen to your whispers. Post a comment and next Sunday, June 19th, I will randomly draw a winner and this coffee cozy will be yours.

A Day Out Junking Around...

Sometimes there is nothing that feeds the creative soul more than a day out looking for (to quote Tinker Bell) "lost things" and treasures...

My sister, Gretchen, and I went out early Saturday morning to do some "junking". We went to breakfast first at a well known truck stop in Monroeville called Vanson's. (Great breakfast!) Then we headed down Route 20 to the western end of Clyde where we found a rather large "Antique Mall". This place is wonderful -full of a little bit of everything. I found a bag of old collector's spoons for $6.00, not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I will think of something...

I also found some old childrens books that I could not pass up. They are so brightly colored and such a joy to look at. They would be wonderful to use for collage projects, although Iwill have to work my way up to it. I was always raised to really respect books and the printed word; as much as I love using old book pages and things like that in my creations I always start off feeling guilty - like I'm disrespecting the book. Even though I know I am re-creating something wonderful with it so that it can live on in another way and offer even more joy to those that see it...
Finally, I found this wonderful green/teal/sparkly fabric to be used as the backing fabric to my bookmark. It contrasts nicely with the purple/eggplant kind of color the papercloth turned out to look like. That's the beauty of papercloth - I might be trying for one type of look, and get something totally different -but all good! When I made this papercloth I was actually trying to get a worn leathered look, but I ended up getting a worn eggplant kind of look. The latter actually ended up going really well with the dried hydrangea flowers I used. Sometimes a change in plans works out for the best! I hope everyone has a Blessed week a head of them.