Recyled Pinks

Like many of you, my husband and I donate to a lot of charities.  As a result, we are presented with lots of free gifts (especially at this time of year) most of which - I hate to admit - go to the trash bin.  However, a pair of adorable pink striped socks came in the mail the other day and I just couldn't throw them away!

Christmas is coming and I like making my granddaughters little dolls for the occasion.  Here's what I did:

In Photoshop Elements, I layered a picture of each of my granddaughters beneath a wreath shape and printed it to size on enhanced matte photo paper.  That sheet was stapled to another sheet of the same paper making a "sandwich."

 A 3x1 inch piece of cardboard was glued in between these sheets and the entire shape cut out.  The wreath is embellished with white Uni-ball ink pen and gold Scribble paint; a bit of gold paint was added to the cardboard.

A hole was punched into the cardboard just below the wreath.  The cardboard was placed into the sock and using a large eyed needle and embroidery floss, a button was attached to the back of the sock (sewing through the hole), brought through the front and then again through to the back and tied in a square knot.  A small fabric rose was then glued on the front

A hole was punched into the top of the wreath and gold cording inserted as a hanging tie - voila - a Christmas stocking doll ornament!  Easy as pie and dare I say it - cute!  (Ordinarily I hate the "c" word.)

For more inspiration, go to Pink Saturday!

My brothers,my sister and me...

I miss my family especially over the holidays.  Our kids and grandchildren live in Chicago while we bask in the Florida sun.  My siblings are in Michigan, Minnesota and Washington state - brrrr.

We celebrated our first family reunion in July and it made me realize how much they mean to me.  I need to work on my drawing skills and thought it would be fun to draw a representation of my family.  I started with my brothers, sister and me - we were a lot younger, of course!

Roberta, Pat, Barney, Michael

It's Thanksgiving and time to celebrate family.  I hope you have a wonderful, blessed holiday!

I Moo - Do You?

I love business cards. I create new ones all the time. Recently I discovered moo cards - so cool having a variety of little cards showing little snippets my fabric art to share with friends and customers!

I picked up a copy of Somserset Studio's "Artful Blogging" the other day. I'm so impressed with the blogs featured in the Nov.Dec.Jan. 2011 issue. I'm determined to work on my photography and blogging skills - I'm much more comfortable with my sewing machine! I took quite a few photos of the moo cards, changed lighting, arrangement of the cards, etc. In PSE 9.0, I added a vignette. As I said, I need to work on my photography skills - but right now I am itching to get started on a new art project - there just is not enough time in a day.....

Pink - It's Not What You Think!

On my recent trip to Germany and Switzerland, I found "pinks" some glorious, some unusual and some just plain fun!

graffiti

pink telephones

 flowers in the optical shop where I had my sunglasses adjusted

yarns which made me wish I knew how to knit!

Visit Pink Saturday for more fun pinks!

Home Again, Home Again - Jiggity Jig...

I had a wonderful time in Germany and Switzerland.  After planning this trip for a year, it's hard to believe it's over.  I kept up with my journal while I was away.  It's pages are crammed with each day's events and stuff I accumulated.  Now I will always have the memories of the trip close at hand.

It was wonderful to see and work with Prof. Anne-Marie Grundmeier.  Anne-Marie extended the invitation to me to go to Freiburg and I am very grateful for all the effort and hard work she put into making the exhibit a reality.

Everyone at the Carl Schurz Haus was a delight to work with.

I had the opportunity to work with the textile students at the University of Education...

and had a lot of fun touring Freiburg and Zurich with my dear friend, Tanya, who joined me after Richard went home.  We wandered about, shopped, ate, drank wine, and acted silly too.

I'm happy to be home now.  My head is bursting with new ideas.   I'm unpacked.  The laundry is done and I've rested.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio - let's get to work!

Zurich - Farewell

This is our last day in Zurich.  Tomorrow we fly home to Naples.  We had a great day walking through small side streets, nosing around alleyways, shopping and just plain enjoying the wonderful autumn weather.