My Little Chickadee

We are going to Spring Creek Retreat this weekend and I should have been packing, but instead I was playing! I was playing around with painting this little chickadee.


He didn't come out as well as I wanted, but this was sort of a practice one. I used watercolor pencils and then lightly watered them down. The yellow on the chickadee's chest didn't come out as rich as I wanted it to. But, I drew another one and I plan to paint him while we are at Spring Creek this weekend.

I have been working with watercolors more and more and I'm beginning to get a better feel for them and how they respond. I hope to be able to make some more paintings using watercolors. I've used oils and acrylics and even played around with colored pencils, but for some reason I keep coming back to watercolors.

When I get back, I plan to put prints of one of my little chickadees in my shop as well as these prints.




I also hope to have a video to share, if I can figure out how to get it into Youtube and then on my blog.

Playing in the Rain

One of my favorite blogs is A Fanciful Twist. Vanessa has made a wonderful video that makes me want to go out and play in the rain. I love her ability to find joy in the simple things and be able to go outside and discover things with a childlike innocence. It reminds me that I need to just have fun. Pretend I'm a child again. Play and dance in the rain and reconnect with my soul.



We are going to Spring Creek Retreat this weekend for the first time in almost 2 years. I am so looking forward to it. I have missed it so much. I would love to make a video of me just lying on the deck of the Creek House and looking through the trees and of the water flowing over the creek rocks. It is the most peaceful relaxing place ever. My problem is that we have one of those old VHS recorders with a BIG camera. I'm not sure it's even working anymore. I would love to have a new one. I doubt if this one could be loaded into Youtube, darn it. I want so much for you to see how wonderful this place is.

Maybe I can figure something out before we leave.

Antiques Roadshow in Chattanooga, TN

This past weekend we were blessed with the opportunity to attend the Antiques Roadshow during it's stop in Chattanooga, TN. It was so much fun! Lots of standing and waiting, though.

I went with my sister-in-law and we each were allowed to take 2 items. She took her step-dad's 1952 Martin guitar. She also took a Japanese doll that her brother (my husband Eddie) sent to her when he was in the Navy in Vietnam. He was in Hong Kong on R&R and bought this doll and sent it to her. The appraiser said that alot of servicemen brought these dolls back after the conflict, so they are not very collectible. So, it turns out that it's really only as sentimental value to us. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it, but I plan to take one soon, since I'm going to scrapbook this adventure.

I took a porcelain teapot that was Eddie's aunt's wedding pattern when she was married in the 1940's. Alot of those were made after WWII, so they are not very collectible either and only worth sentimental value. The other thing that I took is an antique folk art walking stick/cane that my maternal great-grandmother carved in the late 1800's. It's over 100 years old. I was pleasantly surprised at it's value.

I've posted here the pictures of us as well as the cane and the doll that my SIL took. I'm sad because I thought she was holding the doll up and she is not holding it up in the picture, so you can't really see what it looks like.

By the way, I'm the one holding the cane. You can also see the wagon that we used to hold all of our items. And I'm really sore today, that wagon was heavy, but I'm so glad we had it because we never would have made it through the day without it.

Summer Daisies

This morning I stopped at the grocery store on the way to work and I saw these pretty daisies. They were on sale for $2.79 a bunch. I really liked these and I bought them for my desk at work.

I had a coworker once who would buy a bouquet of flowers every week when she went to the grocery store to put on her desk at work. She said it was just something that she did for herself and it made her happy. I think that's an excellent idea. My problem is that I can never remember to do it. Besides, I don't do the grocery shoppping, Eddie does. Sometimes I go to the grocery store on the way to work to buy something special for lunch that I'd like to have. That's what happened this morning when I saw these.

The picture is not as clear as it could be because I took it with my camera phone, but I still think it came out pretty well.

I've been longing for a bouquet of sunflowers. I need to find some of those soon.

Little Book of Everyday Wishes

I was in the grocery store this morning and they had a bargain bin of books. I found this cute little book for only $3.00 and I bought it. The title is Little Book of Everyday Wishes.


It just looked like a charming little book with wonderful little illustrations. It begins in January and has a little wish for every day of the year.

I love books like this that help us remember to do the little things in life and to play. It sort of reminds me of another book that I bought awhile back called Permission to Nap.


I love this book. I'm a firm believer in taking naps. I think we need it to refresh ourselves and take care of ourselves. I wish we could all go back to kindergarten days when we all took an afternoon nap after lunch. It's too bad that our lives are so busy with jobs and other things that we can't take time for ourselves anymore. I can't take naps during the week while I'm at work, but nine times out of ten, as soon as I get home from work I crawl in my bed and take at least a 30 minute nap, sometimes more depending how tired I am. Never mind that I should be exercising instead of taking a nap. Phooey. Who wants to exercise when you can take a nap instead? I've decided to exercise on my lunch break, then I can go home and take that nap and not feel guilty.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Last night on Turner Classic Movies, Meet Me in St. Louis was on. I absolutely love this movie because of the storyline, the singing, the vivid, rich colors and the outfits or costumes, the cars, all of it. Here is a video clip from the party scene. It's one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The Rainbow

This morning I was reading one of my favorite blogs, A Fanciful Twist, and she was writing about a rainbow she saw when she was out for a drive. It was a beautiful rainbow and her post was all about listening to messages and taking time to stop and have adventures. Taking detours from our original plan to enjoy nature and just have fun.

It reminded me of a short little thing I wrote a couple of years ago when I was on my way to the grocery store and saw a beautiful rainbow. After I saw the rainbow that day, I was inspired to write about it.


One afternoon I was running some errands after work. It had been raining earlier that day and had stopped for awhile. I was sitting in my car at a red light and looked up and noticed a beautiful rainbow in the sky. I thought to myself, “I have to park someplace so I can look at this rainbow.” I had to stop at the grocery store, so I drove into the parking lot, parked and got out of my car. I just stood there with my car door open and looked up at the rainbow. I counted about seven different colors. I wished so badly that I had a camera so I could take a picture of it so I could go back and look at the beautiful colors later after the rainbow had faded.

While I was standing beside my car looking at the rainbow, I thought it was so rare and wonderful that I wondered if anyone else was looking at it too. I looked around me and, to my surprise, people seemed to be going about their business and no one seemed to notice the rainbow. I wondered how they could miss such a beautiful, rare occurrence. I wanted to shout to everyone, “Look! Look at that beautiful rainbow!” It made me wonder how people have gotten so busy with their lives that they don’t take the time to stop and smell the flowers, and notice the beautiful things that God has created for us. I stood looking at the rainbow until it had almost completely faded away, then I went into the grocery store to do my shopping.

I’m sure there are some who could explain the rainbow scientifically, but to me seeing a rainbow just proves without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that God does indeed exist in our lives and loves us. I have always believed in God as long as I can remember, but every time I see a beautiful rainbow it’s just like God is reminding me that he is indeed in my life and cares for me and takes care of me. My prayer is that other people will know and feel the same and that they will take the time to stop and notice the beautiful things around them that God has created.

Shop Update!

I've had so much fun! I've felt so much better this weekend and I decided to make some new things for the shop. I've made some shopper tote bags and I decided to put my whole cloth quilted wall hanging up for sale.

Here are all the things I've created and put in the shop and you can find it all right here.

Cripple Creek

Yesterday on Cozy Little Whimsy Nook, I saw a video of someone playing a banjo that brought memories of my dad flooding back. He was a musician by ear. He never read music a day in his life. He could play the banjo, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, and piano all by ear and I'm sure he could have played anything else he set his mind to. My dad passed away 15 years ago in 1993 and I miss him terribly. How I wish I still had his banjo, guitar and mandolin.

One of my dad's favorite songs to play was Cripple Creek. I searched Youtube for banjo players picking this song and this one is the closest to the way my dad played it. Also, you will see in the video clip several other musicians playing other instruments. In the south, it is very common for friends to get together in a very informal setting like someone's garage and just jam, just for the fun of it. This looks like just that kind of setting. Don't forget to go to the bottom of my page and turn off my music before watching the video clip.



For your entertainment, click here for the song lyrics to Cripple Creek. It's really a fun song and has quite a catchy tune.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Harvey

Last night The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was on Turner Classic Movies. I'm ashamed to say I had to go to bed before it was over, but I enjoyed the first part of it. This clip is one of the funniest parts of the movies. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is based on a short story by the same title by James Thurber. You can find the story here.

Before you watch these movie clips, don't forget to go to the bottom of my page and turn off my music. Enjoy!



Yesterday I felt better, so I assembled another whole cloth wall hanging using the new quilting stencil I bought last week. I worked on it last night while we were watching another movie, with Jimmy Stewart called Harvey. What fun to think about having an imaginary friend, and a rabbit at that. Now that we are grown, we can draw our imaginary friends, right?

Scarves

I've been feeling a little on the poor side this weekend. But, really for the past week I haven't felt all that great. Good days and bad days. I think I've been eating too much sugar. It's time to stop that nasty stuff. My doctor has been wanting me to for years. Not even chocolate. Sigh. Well, I guess that has to go too.

I just feel badly whenever I eat sweets. No I'm not diabetic. Or at least I wasn't my last blood test. My glucose count was actually good. But, just to be sure and avoid any future complications, I'm going to do something about it now. I had a terrible headache yesterday either from looking at the computer screen too long, or from sugar/chocolate withdrawal. But, I digress.

I did feel well enough to work on this scarf this weekend.


I really love the way it came out. I've been seeing so many pretty scarves lately. I've decided that I'm going to make a few and put them in my Etsy store when the weather begins to cool off. I can't imagine anyone wanting to wear a scarf in this balmy weather we've had lately. It's been in the upper 80's to mid 90's here for about 2 months and summer just started last week. It's always really humid here in the south too. When it's that hot and you go outside, it just feels like someone threw a blanket on top of you. I mostly stay inside during the summer months. I just can't take the heat anymore.

Whole Cloth Wall Hanging

I've been quilting for the past few days. This past weekend was the East Tennessee Quilt Shop Hop. I didn't really go on the hop, but I did go to a couple of quilt stores near me just to see what was new. I had not been in awhile and I just wanted to browse around.

The first quilt shop I went to Sew-Bee-It in Ringgold, Ga. This is a wonderful shop. They have lots and lots of beautiful and unique fabrics. I bought several fat quarters there to make the swatch portraits with.

After that, I went to Lavender Lime in Chattanooga, TN. I found a wonderful whole cloth stencil pattern. I love these types of patterns so I thought I would buy it and try one. I bought some wonderfully soft muslin and went home Saturday afternoon and went to work getting it ready. I quilted on it most of the day Sunday, a little bit on Monday, and finished it up Tuesday night. I still have to put the hanging sleeve on the back.

With these types of whole cloth patterns, I think alot of people use the same color quilting thread as the fabric. But, I love color so much and with a pattern that is that beautiful, I really enjoy quilting it using a colored quilting thread. I chose a variegated quilting thread for this one. I wasn't sure how it would come out, but after I removed the quilting marks from the fabric, I really like it.




I went back to Lavender Lime yesterday and bought an even bigger stencil to make another whole cloth wall hanging. I'm trying to decide if I want to make one of those next, or make another one of the smaller ones using a different border fabric.

Lovely

Today before I went to lunch I got a text message from my cousin. He sent me this picture.


He said he had gone home for lunch and was sitting on his front porch eating his sandwich when he noticed that his rose bush is in full bloom. He said they were so lovely and it made him think of me. He said he wanted to send the photo to me because I am a lovely person and that he loves me. It was so sweet. Of course, being the sentimental fool I am, I cried. It made my day and receiving this was just what I needed today.

For my own lunch break, I went out to the Hobby Lobby to buy some more wood embroidery frames to make some more swatch portraits. As I was browsing through the aisles I came across this pretty metal star. I really like it. It's not the best picture since I took it with my cell phone camera, but you get the idea of what it looks like. This picture really does not do it justice.


After that I went down another aisle and saw some candle holders that I really like. I snapped this picture to show you. They are 50% off this week at Hobby Lobby. I think this one is unique. They have a short one and then a taller one. I might go back tomorrow and get them for my fireplace mantel. Again, this picture is not very clear, but you get the idea.

Swatch Portraits

The first time I saw one of these Swatch Portraits was on The Cozy Little Whimsy Nook's blog. I didn't know what they were called, just thought of them as fabric framed in wood embroidery hoops. They are apparently called Swatch Portraits. Which is a really good name. I like it. Then the other night I saw some on Martha Stewart's studio set. She had hers on a board of some kind that looked like you could easily put thumb tacks or small nails into to hang the portraits. The board was leaning against what looked like a cooler with flowers in it. Anyway, it got me thinking that now I know what I can do with those wonderful fabrics that I love and hate to cut up, or maybe I have just a little of something left over from another project.

As with any project that I'm thinking about starting, I like to see some eye candy for inspiration, so I did a Google image and blog search on "Swatch Portraits" and found a great tutorial on Purl Bee's blog. These are really pretty and they are not hard to make at all. I could see me making some of these to hang all over the house. I think they look best when they are arranged on a wall with several of them in all different sizes. I went to Hobby Lobby earlier this week and bought several wood embroidery hoops. I can't wait to try this.

And I almost forgot the most important thing that really cheered me up yesterday. When I got home I had received my order from Marjorie of Marmee Craft. Her sweet owling pin cushions are just what I needed to make my day. I've already posted it above, but I'll do it again. Her blog is here.


And she also included one of her newest paintings in a postcard size. I just love it!

Mad Tea Party

Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist is hosting a virtual Mad Tea Party. Go to her blog to read all about it.

I'm thinking that I am going to wear a hat with feathers and include a couple of pictures of myself as a child wearing hats. I guess I loved hats even when I was very small and I still do!

I Am a Snapdragon

I found this fun little quiz through another blog this weekend. You just click on the link below and take your own quiz to see which flower you are.

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

My vacation is over and I'm heading back to work tomorrow. I've had lots of fun, though, even though we didn't go to Florida. I did lots of things I don't normally get to do, and most of them I've posted about. I did lots of reading, watching movies, and painting. I'm going to have a shop update this week and have some prints available of paintings that I worked on these past two weeks. And maybe even a jewelry pouch or two.

Yesterday I did some baking.


There is one cupcake missing. Can you guess why? Actually, the real reason is because for some strange reason I only had enough cake batter for 11 cupcakes instead of 12. It was probably my inability to evenly distribute the batter into the pans. No matter. They all disappeared in record time.

This morning as I was making biscuits I was looking at my tired, worn out, glass kitchen canisters and thinking that I need new ones. Then I thought, that the only thing wrong with them was the ugly wooden lids. So, I decided that I can paint them and they will be good as new. No need to buy new ones. I like the way these glass canisters slant forward and didn't really want to buy new ones. So, I'm working on the lids now and will post the final result when I finish.

I guess I don't have very much to say this post. Mostly I'm just trying to get back into the working mindset and getting things ready for work tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot. Friday night there was a special movie on the Oxygen channel and it was Pride and Prejudice. I got right in the middle of it and thought, well darn, I've missed it. But, no ... low and behold I saw that there was going to be an oncore presentation right after the current one, so I was able to see it after all. It was very good. So far, I've enjoyed Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Now I have Persuasion, but I haven't watched it yet. Now I have to go back and read the novels. I rented The Jane Austen Book Club this week and need to finish watching it so I can take it back. I was interrupted in the middle of it and never got back to it.

That's all for now.

Miss Potter

In addition to painting and drawing while I've been on vacation, I've watched Miss Potter twice. I love that movie and it's inspiring to me in my own artwork. I went out this morning to a gift shop that I haven't been to in awhile and, by accident, found the prettiest long, rectangular shaped, wicker type box that reminded me of the box that Miss Potter kept her brushes in as depicted in the movie. I bought it, brought it home and put my watercolor brushes in it. It's the perfect size.



After I left that gift shop I went to another one that I haven't been to in awhile. They had all of their Charming Tails figurines on sale 50% off. I found this cute mouse and spool of thread and buttons that reminded me of the illustration for the story The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter.




If you are interested, I have posted here the movie trailer for Miss Potter. I also noticed that YouTube has the entire video of The Tailor of Glouchester in five parts. Remember to turn my music off at the bottom of my page before you watch the videos.

Giveaway!

In light of the fact that I love Mary Jane shoes, I'm going to enter this wonderful giveaway from The Cookie Sheet blog. She is giving away this wonderful little print.


Just click on the link above and you can also enter.

More Watercolor Art

I've been on a watercolor ride lately. I've been wanting to explore them more and more and have just never taken the time to do it. Since I've been on vacation, I've been taking time to learn more about watercolor painting and how to control the paints, etc.

I've created this new lovely girl that I want to share.

I want to call her Party Girl since she looks just like she's ready to go to a party or a banquet or something like that. I plan to put prints of her and my other watercolor paintings in my shop this week.

Yesterday afternoon I went outside and took some pictures of some lovely lilys that are blooming in my yard.




I also took some more pictures of flowers and plants.

Watercolors

I had some more fun today. We didn't go to Eddie's mom's today and take the food because some of her husband's family brought some food to them. So, I stayed home and we will take our food tomorrow.

While I was here today, I found a watercolor sunflower that I had started a couple of years ago, and for some reason, never finished. I decided to work on it today and this is the result.


You can tell this is really amateurish, but I had alot of fun with it today. I just put on some 40's big band/swing music and painted. I loved it!

I also found a seashell/beach scene that I had painted in 2002, and I decided to share that one with you as well.


I hope to be able to work on some more watercolor this week and hopefully next week too.