dialing up some sun

when I crave warmth and color and all those good things that come with sunshine, 

I make a little of my own

(it's a garden marker) 

Ingredients: pie tin, Arizona Tea can, tomato sauce lid, tomato paste lid, bottle cap, copper wire

wishing you a little patch of sunshine and warmth on this winter's day

xoxo

saving some green

I forego the luscious evergreen wreaths every year.

Originally, I was motivated by pinching pennies.

But once I learned about evergreen poaching, 

it's super easy to turn up my nose and glide right past them in the market.

this year I snipped some holly and cedar from our own trees in the backyard

I stuck them in some woolen mittens - tied on a red ribbon accent - and there you have it

guilt free

and lest you think I have it all together over here

- I'll show you my whole porch -

rotting and frozen pumpkins and all

ghost flowers

 the hydrangeas are slowly disintegrating

leaving behind a lovely lacework of their former glory

I had to snip a few and bring them in

ghost flowers - not your everyday halloween decoration

meet webster

hanging out

every year I mean to dry the echinacea for making tea or a tincture in the winter time

finally got around to it this year

(I will tell you how it turns out)

faerie garden

the Tall Guy has an english style garden with lots of roses and stuff

as for me - I have an herb graden with resident faeries

maybe it's from having three little girls

or maybe it's just cuz I love tiny things

.... let me show you around ....

this is my Chinese Fisherman (his pond is an abalone shell):

here is The Sage Lady, wise as all get out:

this is my church birdhouse with a pinecone steeple:

here is a table set for tea (can you see the yellow jacket on the left?):

this is where my Kitty Witty is buried under the stones (he was so sweet):

all the wine bottles end up out here as borders:

 this year I added a twig fence and oyster shell border:

and the faeries are there, crouched under leaves and such,

waiting for the sun to set so they can dance and sing under the stars

spying

I drove into our driveway after a quick trip to the grocery store

and spied this scene from my car

(truly - cross my heart)

I am so happy I had my camera

lost keys

my dad gave me a huge ziplock bag full of old keys

I made a wind chime with them

I wish you could hear how it sounds 

(if I were techie, I could upload a video)

I strung them in such a way that they all jangle on each other

he also gave me brass buttons from his uncle's uniform

I strung them up from this mustard tin I've been saving

you can see blue sky and green trees in the background

it's really here

spring, that is

winter seems like it was just a dream on a day like this

*

I'm slowly catching up on comments

thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such kind words and thoughts!

it's been a crazy few days

stitching with pliers

 ... for real ...

sometimes it's just too much work to get that needle through several thicknesses of fabric

and paper can be especially uncooperative

(it has no weave to part a path for the needle-eye & thread)

... so I use pliers ...

is that what all the fuss was about?

... there's more ...

these sweet things needed pliers too:

it's a serious dose of fun color

just in case spring hasn't burst out in all her full operatic diva glory

(a little something to tide you over)

*

ingredients:

can lids

bottle caps

wire

bamboo skewer

... ta-da ...

piecing

tea bag quilt top

dictionary page baffle

muslin backing

I've been doing the slow stitch

sometimes it's all I want to do

and look at the forsythia - swoon time

happy friday!

something lovely

winter is slowly being displaced by spring

just as summer's glory was displaced by winter

and the new growth is hidden in among that faded glory

something lovely

a sunglasses kind of day

... not today, but yesterday,

look how gorgeous it is:

(north everett looking east over the water plant)

so I cleaned up my sunglasses and realized I need a new case for them

I found a very very easy tutorial for this zippered pouch on Design Mom

(link is HERE)

it took five seams and only 2 of them are visible

I used scrap oilcloth fabric from sewing up lunch bags,

batting, lining fabric, and a zipper I never used from another project

15 minutes easy peasy (if you sew)

*

and look at this little beauty:

a crocus in the sunshine - is there anything sweeter?

seedtime

my husband has been going through seed catalogs

making his plans for the coming summer

happily, I inherit the old seeds which went unplanted from years past

some of my seeds go back to 2003

I knew in my heart that I would use them in my art somehow

"we sowed seeds"

I've stitched them between layers of teabag paper and onto antique linens

my inspiration really comes from the photos though

it makes me sad that I don't know who these people are

I have a habit of picking up old photos at the local junk shops

some of the faces and the scenes I just cannot turn away from

it seems like life was harder then

the clothes are worn - the faces are lined

but they chose to pause and pose for the camera

a certain pride in family, friends, work, possessions, places

we are no different and the camera connects us

"in season"

* * *

speaking of posing

the blue sky made an appearance today

as photogenic and beautiful as I remember her

transform

my favorite thing to do is to take a mundane object and transform it into something beautiful

a n    a l u m i n u m    p i e    t i n

a n    a r t    p i e c e

the photo is of a woman posing with her dog - all it says on the back of the photo is "winnipeg"

(probably the 1920's)

I'm amazed at the number of photos from this era which I find of women posing with their dogs

and men posing with their cars

I imagine friends asking friends to snap a picture while they pose with their beloved companion

... be it a dog or a car

***

and another kind of transformation beginning to take place:

s n o w d r o p s    i n    f e b r u a r y

28 degrees

(the mitten on the right is turned inside out)

I finished these thrummed mittens over the weekend

(thrummed mitten kit purchased on Etsy from Moonlight and Laughter)

the inside is fluffy fleecy roving wool which will felt over time

I'm thinking these are probably the warmest mittens ever invented

and having been invented in Eastern Canada,

I'm also thinking

they would know

(green tomato)

and because it was forecast to be 28 degrees last night

we brought all our tomatoes in

I think I'll make pickles and chutney and stuff like that

as if I didn't already have enough to do

but I'll be glad when it's 28 degrees outside and I can open a jar of almost sun

 thank you 

Marilla O'Brien of Moonlight and Laughter for the excellent knitting kit

the directions were thorough and very easy to follow

I LOVE my new mittens!