Show Your Work!

I recently came across this very energetic book by Austin Kleon and decided to take some of his advice by passing this on.  It's concise and easy to read, but gets to the heart of why (and how) artists should take part in social media (something I'm not that into right now).  Coincidentally, at our FANE meeting on Thursday, Jane Davila encouraged us to try a social-media experiment for a month - choose a platform (twitter, instagram, flickr, tumblr, facebook whatever), set a goal, post regularly, and then assess the process.

As you've seen, I'm not that regular at posting here, and I haven't jumped on the twitter/tumblr band wagon.  I think I'm still focused on creating on a regular basis, rather than sharing  (and I don't have a smartphone, which makes all this stuff much faster and more convenient).  But maybe I'll do some research and give this a try...

Flowers: Growing and Sewing

While things outdoors are finally warming up and springing up, I'm still finishing up the winter/summer piece I started back in March.  It will be shown along with my fellow FANE-ers' art at the Northern Star Quilter's Guild's annual show at JFK High School in Somers this coming weekend.  The flowers on the "summer" side are growing nicely, but I have a few more hours work ahead of me today and tomorrow.  Busy, busy, busy!

Ready for Spring?

A few weeks ago, a co-worker asked me if I was ready for spring.  Of course, I answered I had been ready for spring for weeks already!  But then he said that although he was looking forward to spring, he still hadn't finished his winter indoor projects, which got me thinking - neither had I!  Once January hits and the holidays are over, it's the perfect time to tackle all the repairing and redecorating projects around the house.  Here it is, April already, the weather is warming up, but we're still finishing up our indoor projects.

Here is my daughter's bedroom makeover, almost fully completed.  We bought the paint way back on Valentine's Day, but finally got the room all prepped and painted it a few weeks ago.  We still have a few shelves to rehang, but other than that, it came together nicely.  The big change was painting the ceiling that dark blue to look like the night sky.  I was afraid it would make the room look small, but I really like it!  The twinkle lights around the perimeter brighten it up too. 

The highlight of the room is this new dresser and lamp, which I picked up at Homegoods while my daughter was away on a school trip for a few days.  It was a great price and replaces a repurposed, huge TV armoir that was in there overpowering the room.  This one is so much better!  The lamp even has dangly prisms (hard to see in this photo) and fits perfectly with her love for sparkly crystals!

We also replaced a messy desk with two smaller book shelves.  She had gotten the cool sherpa chair as a Christmas gift, and it's a great place to hang out and do homework.  This is where we need to hang a few more shelves, but then it'll be all done and we can focus on the outdoors...

A Sprinkle of Spring

Driving past our local nursery last week, I couldn't resist pulling in and getting a better look at their colorful spread of pansies - Wow!  I always put them in our window boxes and a few pots near the front door this time of year - might as well get them now.  But which to choose?  All yellow, a mix of yellows and oranges, shades of lavender, or that riot of mixed brights?  I usually pick a mix of yellow and purple.  Which would you go for?

Another shopper told me he liked the purple and yellow ones with the faces, but I decided on the mixed bright mix of colors because they looked so cheerful.  Here they are in pots near the door.  I couldn't resist sticking a pinwheel in there as well.  Doesn't it look festive?  

And here they are in the window boxes.   I think I need a few pinwheels here too!

The pansies compliment the purple and yellow crocuses that have finally bloomed along the walkway.  I'm so happy to see some color out in the yard again!

Down in the backyard, things are not quite blooming yet, like these almost-ready-to-pop daffodils.

There are plenty of little green shoots coming up all over the new garden, but no flowers yet...

The hellebore I picked up at the grocery store a few weeks ago was ready to go in the ground, so I placed it here, not far from the pond.  That brightens things up a bit...

...as do these ceramic mushrooms I picked up at a good price through a catalog.  I stuck them in the ground close to the fairy garden area.  So cheerful!

 I also finally hung the wind chimes I got for Christmas.  Do you see them dangling from the propped ladders above Cassie?  It's nice to be sitting quietly, gazing at the lake, and listening to their song.

This week we spent a good deal of time on some indoor projects, which I'll post soon.  The weather is supposed to be mild again today, so I hope to spend a good bit of time in the garden planting and sprucing up.  Can't wait!

New Show

Last Thursday I took myself down to Etui FiberArts, a new "farm-to-needle" yarn and fabric shop in Larchmont NY.  It's a lovely new space with beautiful fabrics and hand-spun yarns, with spaces for workshops and gallery displays.  Jane Davila's show, "Bird House," was coming down, and the spring FANE show, "Architectural Elements," was going up!  Here are some of Jane's lovely bird-themed creations:

By the time we were done, the space looked like this (you can see my "Tuscan Window" on the left):

And this....

and this!

Knowing that Etui's proprietor had several display pillars, some of our group members made stand-alone pieces.  As usual, there was a great variety of materials, subjects, and techniques, making for a very interesting show.  I only snapped a few quick shots before I raced out the door to another appointment, and I didn't make it to the opening reception, so I'll have to go back to get some close-ups.  If you live anywhere near Larchmont, stop in to Etui - it'll be worth the trip! 

Warming it Up!

This afternoon I got out my new Setacolor paints and foam flower stamps and went wild with some hot colors!  Really warmed things up, didn't it?  This is the second part of my "opposites" piece, so now I'm working with flowers instead of snowflakes.  It's a welcome change!

Earlier this morning, I had the chance to run over to a new closer-to-home JoAnn's Fabrics, and picked up all these sheers in similar hot shades.  This evening I layered them with fusible webbing, so tomorrow I'll be able to start cutting out flower shapes and adding them all over.  This piece is supposed to be finished in one week, so I'm trying to make the most of each day.  But if I want to layer it, add some quilting and embellishments, I may need to give myself some extra time.  The NSQG show isn't until early May, so I just might be able to swing that...  Stay tuned...

More Snowflakes!

Even though most of the snow is gone and I'm finally starting to see some real signs of spring,  the cold winter air is lingering!  There's even a few snowflakes in the forecast for tomorrow.

Maybe that's a good thing, because I have to finish stitching these snowflakes on my latest piece!  Every time I attempt a piece that includes snowflakes, I get caught up in the "no two are ever alike" trap.  It may be easy for Almighty God to never make two the same, but it's a real challenge for me, and I'm only making a few!  This time, to give myself a framework that might simplify it, I fused webbing on the back of several different sheer fabrics, peeled off the backing, folded them like a paper snowflake, and then snipped away.  The results were all different and pretty, but some of the fabrics were so sheer that when I fused them onto the background, they were hardly visible!  This made for quite a challenge trying to add stitching by machine or by hand.  I've used several different threads and the combination of machine and hand stitching has made for a nice variety.  Here's another sneak peek:

I hope to have these all done soon, not just because of my looming deadline, but because I want to get on to the next part of the piece which includes warmer colors!  Maybe by then we'll actually have some crocuses and snowdrops blooming...