Going with the Flow

Dear Friends, I've been a little quiet on the blog, but only because life has been so wonderfully busy.

Remember this post when I talked about the power of asking open-ended questions? I especially like "what if" questions as they open me up to the wonderful world of possibilities.

Poppy
5 x 7 inch acrylic painting
Etsy Shop

Well, one of the questions I asked myself was: "What if I simply jumped into the flow of my life and allowed it to carry me?"  I thought instead of making plans for each day and kicking and screaming internally when they were derailed, I'd just experiment with going with the flow.

Wide Awake
5 x 7 inch acrylic painting
SOLD

That combined with giving myself permission to just be who I am (remember this post?) and my life took off! It's been some experiment I have say!

Deeply
5 x 7 inch acrylic painting
Etsy Shop

I was afraid that I'd just sort of lollygag through my days and not get much done - because how can you get anything done without a plan or a list?! What I found is exactly the opposite. It made me very focused on all the things that are me: art, family, home, cooking, reading, social networking, etc.

I love the way these flower open and wear their little "hat" for a while.
It's our single-clove garlic.

And because I don't spend so much time trying to swim against the current when it is taking me away from my plans, I have way more energy to spend on the things that I love to do.

Gorgeous gerbera daisies.

The result has been astounding. I've been incredible productive without having that as my goal.

Our fave summer food: hummus (recipe in this post)

I've had fun doing all of this, even updating my shops and doing other office work. I've even organized my desk, something I had put off for months.

Tiny little booties I knitted for a baby shower last weekend.
I felt like I was knitting with toothpicks... :)

I've sort of neglected my blog until today, but I'm ok with the ebb and flow of how things are catching my attention. It's all a part of going with the current of life.

Spirit
6 x 8 inch acrylic painting
Etsy Shop

Our weather has been sublime, which is rare as we are heading into the southern summer, so we spent much time outdoors, watching the birds, petting the cats, laughing about squirrel acrobatics, and greeting the occasional raccoon at dusk.  Daniel put in a raised flowerbed for us in the backyard - gorgeous! I'll share photos soon.

Beginnings of a necklace. Aren't those colors luscious?!

I've been making lots more necklaces and bracelets and will have some photos soon. They look delicious to me! I've sold a few and more are heading to an art show this weekend.

A bracelet with a charm.
eBay Store

I leave you with this photos of our busy, busy bluebird parents. They are a joy to watch as are all of the bird families crowding around our feeders these days. Most babies have hatched and many have left their nest already.

Breakfast is served at the bluebird house!

I hope your day is wonderful and filled with joy, sunshine and many happy surprises!

With lots of love and gratitude,

❧ Silke

New Projects!

I've been scarce in the blogging world for the past couple of days as I have been busy, busy, busy - in a very good way! 

It's amazing to me - once I open myself up to being myself and living my very own creative life, everything starts pouring in - inspiration, new ideas, new projects and activities, and just plain fun!

A good friend taught me the basics of how to make these beautiful necklaces from ribbon yarn and beads. They are wonderfully meditative to make and the creative possibilities are endless. I'm already thinking bracelets and maybe even earrings if I can figure it out.

In other happenings, we are having a few friends over tonight for a Mexican dinner. Ok, it's more like a feast and we've been cooking all last evening and most of today. It's been great!

I love, love, love cooking when I have time to do so. And cooking together with Daniel is even more fun.

It's going to be delicious - two kinds of tacos with two different salsas, homemade refried beans, an avocado mango salad, but the best will be the dessert: a tropical trifle with mango, a syrup made with orange liqueur and whipped cream. I keep telling Daniel to remind me to keep some room for dessert. :) And margaritas, of course... Let the party begin!!

Back to the photos. Aren't those necklaces beautiful?! The orange/green one is already gone, but the blue/green/turquoise one is still available in my eBay Store.

Wishing you a beautiful weekend. I hope good weather is restored to all those areas that suffered with the recent storms. It's been heart wrenching to watch all the destruction. I hope all of you are doing alright!! And better than alright!!!

With lots of love and a full heart,

❧ Silke

Sunday Potpourri

Good morning, friends and Happy Sunday!!

1. For Christmas, my sister and her family gave me a Troll Bead charm bracelet with a very beautiful glass bead. Because the beads are somewhat pricey, it's going to take me a while to fill up the bracelet.

In the meantime, I found a youtube tutorial (click here for the link) on how to make beads from paper and made eight of them yesterday! I might make some more today. They aren't as stunning as the glass beads, of course, but they still look great I think.

2. The results of last weeks life drawing class. It was a whole different story to draw someone with glasses - so much more going on with the shadows: deep shadows, lighter shadows cast by the glass, shadows through the glass, etc.

I kept having to tell myself to just draw what I saw and not what my brain was telling me. In the end, the drawing pretty much looked like the model and I was very happy with it.

3. I did some more tweaking with my oil painting and it is now done. Signed and done!

 I am so pleased with it and enormously proud! She is hanging in our living room until she's completely dry and ready to be varnished.

After that she might wander into my Etsy shop or she might stay put in our living room. I'm still quite attached to her.

4. I had mentioned before that last year there was a lot of emotional upheaval in my life and for that reason I somehow felt I needed to hang on to everything, including my art. That energy has shifted and I listed most of my artwork in my Etsy Shop. I am ready for my babies to fly the coop... You can click here to have a look or on the Etsy links on my left sidebar. I'll be adding more as I create more.

5. I am also selling my knitting, crocheting and sewing again, but I have migrated that shop from Etsy to eBay. I seem to be doing better selling my scarves and things on eBay. If you want to have a look (there is lots to choose from, crazy knitter that I am!), click here or on the eBay link on my right sidebar. I'm adding new items all the time...

That was it for the potpourri of stuff on my mind...

I wish you a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!!

❧ Silke

Knit, Knit, Knit...

Some of you may have been wondering where I've been lately. Things have been so busy here between friends visiting this weekend and then lots of projects I had to get knit. I made the baby booties for our neighbor's baby shower, which was this afternoon. Aren't they so cute?! I love knitting little things with such tiny needles.
And then I had a run on my scarves on eBay. I like to knit ahead, but here I was just knitting to keep up. I'm not complaining though - it's nice that they are selling! When I looked at the little dish I put all the yarn snippets in, I just had to take a picture, they looked so colorful!
And this is the only scarf I knit that isn't spoken for and is going in my Etsy knit shop tonight. Even though it was warm, warm, warm today, I needed to knit something for fall and winter. It's that time of the year, right?!
I am so happy you still visit my blog even if I haven't had time to come by yours. I miss you all and will be by soon to read what you've been up to!! In the meantime, I send you all a big cyber hug!

Much Is Happening!

It seems that there is a lot of movement suddenly - Much more activity both on eBay and Etsy. It seems to go in waves. So here's what's happening.

Last week, I sold a print of my egret, a painting I just love! It is on its way to the wonderful Tessa of AnAerialArmadillo in the UK. If you want to see incredibly colorful art and gorgeous photography mixed with beautiful words, make sure you visit her blog!

And today, I sold this lovely lady to a dear, dear friend in Texas. This painting is one of my very favorites and I am so happy it's staying in the family, so to speak. Looking at it again, it reminds me to add more texture to my paintings!
Also today, we sold one of Daniel's illustrations! This is an illustration he did for a spooky story in Spider Magazine (perfect timing with Halloween right around the corner). If you'd like to have a peak at some more of Daniel's exquisite illustrations check his eBay site here or his website here.
Daniel was out of town this weekend and I felt the need to knit and crochet warm scarves. I guess I'm trying to conjure up cooler temperatures. I love fall and summer just lasts so very long here! I've listed them in my new Etsy store for my knitting. I decided to keep my paintings and knitting/crocheting separate. I haven't transferred everything yet, but click here to take a look!

Now Daniel is back home and I have my little family together again. While I am typing this, we are watching the Ken Burns series on our National Parks and am eternally grateful to be living in the midst of all this beauty and to have seen so many of the parks already! Actually, there are many, many things I am very grateful for tonight - among them all of you!!