A cheery spot is a good thing on snowy days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm dreaming of some pumpkin pie,

wishing on a star-blue sky.

Wish I may, wish that I might

not count any more calories tonight.

On gravy, on pudding, on jelly and jam:

slather my turkey and spiral sliced ham.

Oh green beans, cabbage and pretty yams,

skip my hips and pass my gams.

Fluffy rolls, brown rolls, yeast and more,

will I ever again fit through the door?

Jello salad, pea salad, pickles and cheese,

pass the relish tray and the margarine please!

Mashed potatoes, smashed potatoes, who gives a rip?

I'm on a delirious, delicious carbohydrate trip,

and when I'm done, maybe I'll run a lap....

after my L-tryptophan-induced, heavenly nap!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you gobblers!



Happy Halloween!

Untitled, a photo by Gina2424 on Flickr.

My inspirational & motivational work spaces

Thank you, Indian Summer!

My morning glory vine and my petunias and geraniums and my SOUL are all thankful for the gorgeous 80F degrees and warmer the last several days here in northern Indiana. Warm and sunny is the forecast for the next several days also. It's sooooo pleasant!

Congrats to my dear friend Jenny and her family. Welcome Lewis Alan!

Lewis Alan Fretz arrived August 31 at 9:11 p.m. in Pennsylvania to Jen Fretz and husband Andy and big sis Gwen. He weighed 9 lbs., 15 oz (beating out my Alex by 11 oz!) and was 21.5 inches long. She says he's the cutest kid ever, and it sure looks like it!
I'm supposed to be embroidering three onesies with 'boy stuff.' Looks like I'd better get that finished up. So happy for Jenny and her family. Check out her Child of Hope blog. Jen and I used to have big fun staying up until all hours scrapbooking and papercrafting when we weren't up to shenanigans at Bath & Body Works.
Jen spent some growing up years in Leesburg, where her dad was a pastor. And now Jen has a little boy (and girl) of her own. Congrats!

Finally! Took some art classes again.

After a too-long-to-measure hiatus, I finally signed up for a couple art classes at The Queen's Ink in Savage Mill, and boy, am I glad I did! The special guest instructor was Dyan Reaveley, international and European educator with Ranger products. What a treat! Dyan is a well-known and admired artist, teacher and shopkeeper from the U.K. Just listening to her accent and euphemisms all day was jolly good fun! Cannot get the technique "shimmy butt roll" out of my head. Thanks so much.
The first class was a darling 6 x 6 chunky canvas (her examples shown above) which we painted and embellished with such products as acrylic paint daubers, Perfect Pearls, Perfect Pearls glimmer mists, Color Wash sprays, Tim Holtz's die cuts, Dyan's darling, hot new rubber stamps and many new techniques.
The Queen's Ink in Savage, MD in the rehab'd Savage Mill hosted the event. It's an outstanding place for classes, and owner Patti Euler is a blast. The store is stocked to the rafters with needful supplies and goodies. It's hard not to come home with one of everything.
I met some lovely new art friends, including Donna Walsh of Words Have Wings on Etsy. We commiserated at the same table for seven hours and tried to avoid spraying each other with Glimmer Mists!
Waiting for some finishing touches to dry on my own canvas, and then I'll post pics.
My next class was an accordian fold book, and Dyan's samples are pictured here. We used a lot of the same products on watercolor paper, and added a bookbinding technique, as well as stencil use and more fun rubber stamps. Didn't get quite finished, so working on it today, and will post pics soon.
The classes were good-sized at 20, and you can see some classroom shots above. That's Her Majesty Dyan at the paper cutter. I also got some great treasures in the shop, including a fun, new journaling system called SMASH. Hope to start that today, too, and will post pics soonish. Cheerio and Shimmy Butt Roll and all that.

More painting with thread

Got my Happy Day sampler back from framing at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I chose a wooden frame in hot pink. Love it! While waiting for that, I started and finished this Halloween dress for Blythe. I started with a purchased base dress, that had already been dyed from white to orange. I added the ghostly trio, as well as a spider and web, waist and hem trim.
Wow! I just noticed that my previous post was my 500th post! Can't believe I missed that. Maybe I'll remember to celebrate my four year blog anniversary this August 2. Time flies when chatting with friends.

My recent faves- I love me some color!

See my Flickr for a link to all the wonderful photos and photographers in this mosaic.

Happy Day sampler done!

This was the most fun ever! I hated to see it end. Pattern from Pam Garrison. Choice of type of stitches and colors up to the stitcher. So I went bright (I guess you can tell).
Stitches I used: straight, back, chain, stem, satin, French knot, star, seed, bullion (first time), daisy, couched. Variegated floss used for the letters, leaves, border and some flowers.
Inspired to stitch by dear Bryanna Lenan, Little Dear/Merwing and Roxie Creations.
Can't wait to frame this or make a pillow with it. It really makes me smile.

WIP: Happy Day embroidery sampler designed by Pam Garrison

Art Making in Two of My Favorite Mediums