New cards and a Dotee Doll...

Wow it's been over since I've posted...I just have so busy..Last Thursday I took a class at a new shop in town..it's called Art Garden and they offer vaious classes. So I'm taking a mosaic mirror class. It''s going to be quite large..probably 24" x 24". We make tiles in the first class, she will fire and then we will paint next Thursday..Its a 4-6 week class, depending on how long you take to finish and she supplies all the stuff. I got these cards in the mail this week from my art2mail22 group. The one with the garden fairy if from Bev in Victoria, Australia, the Patchwork Diva is from Jo in Alabama and the Asian is from Glennis in CA. Each one is unique and different. I'm also going to add my first DoteeDoll you check out more qbout them here at Dotee's Blog They are really cute and fun to make. I made this about 1" too big. So I will not use her in a swap. She needs to be no bigger than 3". She really just makes you smile when you look at her. Dotee is doing a swap for her you can check it at her blog. Hubby and I went to Leavenworth on Friday and spent the night. It was our 7th wedding anniversary. It was beautiful and we woke up to snow falling. Leavenworth is a town in the Cascade moutains with a German/Bavarian theme. We had some great german food and wine. We came home the next day after stopping at Joanne's and an art suplly store. Both of which had nothing I really wanted. I went armed with my list from a new book I got Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor I guess I will have to get of the things from the internet. Trouble is..I can't find it all at the same spot. I hate to pay all that shipping, but I guess it's better than using gas running all over the state. Well time to go make Dotee Dolls...

New postcards received

Well here it is Friday already..Where does the time go. Remember when you were a kid and you could'nt wait until you 13 years old...or until Christmas came. Now time just passes by like a fast moving train. There is just not enough time to do what I want. So then why so I just seem to sit in from of the TV sometime? I get lost in someone else's problems I guess. What I need to do is get off my butt and start walking again. My weight has got my mood down again. I look back at what I did just a couple of years ago..I lost 90 lbs. and some how..somewhere..it found it's ugly way back. I remember one of my wise old sage friends once said..Never say you lost the weight..

because when you loose something you want it back...instead she said..say I released it. Now I understand..Now I need to release it again once and for all..this time I'm going to send it on a one way flight to somewhere...somewhere that it will want to stay. Any suggestions where that might be ? Well now for some happy thoughts.. I have two new postcards to show you..The snowflake is from Laurie in CT. and the Valentine Patchwork is from Gwen in TN. This has been such a great group to exchange cards with. I'm also currently hosting an Altered Altoid Tin Trade here at..FAT It's a really fun group..go check it out and join. We do all sorts of Fiber Art Trade)hence the name FAT. If you want to join just tell them..Judy Spencer sent you !!

Another week-end gone....

It seems the week-ends just get started and then its back to work. It was a good week-end though. I had lunch with a friend on Friday and we went shopping. I bought some new clothes and a got a great new rubber stamp..It's huge and has four sides..It will be fun to use with fabric..postcards and maybe something new..like tags. I got a new postcard in the mail over the week-end. Its from Carol in Welling,Kent, England..It's quite unique..I love the funky ribbon on it. she did a great job..Thanks Carol !! Well Monday..will be a different day at work..We are working with no administrator...not a real big deal..unless it takes the board a longtime to find another one. It can be an anxious time waiting for a new boss..then getting to know them..and hoping we can meet each others expectations. I'm busy doing my own job as well as a re-decorating project in the main resident dining room. Not like picking furniture and floors for your own home..everything has to pass approval by the state and that takes time. We hope to have it done by April or May at the very latest. I working on more altered Altoid tins...and will post pictures when I get done. Well I need to do more work on tins..thats all for now...

Altered Tin.....

Here are pictures of the Altoid Tin I've been working on.

What do you think ????
I think it needs something else..I'm just not sure what.....I still need to paint around th edges a little. The tiny book is made from the old speller I bought at the second hand store the other day..I reduced and copied
on card stock and then reduced some pages to go inside.
I think it turned kind of cute.
Some of my old fellows at the nursing are even helping me out. We are rusting Altoid tins.
We have 4 different experiments going..

• Coke
• Shasta Cola
• Water & Salt
• Vinegar & Salt

Each have the tins soaking in the solution. We doing a study to see which one rusts the quickest. Well enough rambling for the nite..Take Care All...

Here are postcards I received the last few days...Each one is special..little works of art. We rode up to where we camp today..Lots of snow on the ground..but it was fairly balmy..34 degrees.
not bad considering it has been in the single digits and teens. We let the dogs out and of course

Oscar had to run off. I called him and called him..but he never came. So John went out and called him..told him we going bye-bye..you know all the tricks you use on your dogs. Well he was still in the truck. I guess he decided it was too cold to get out. He did have fun though..he went through my purse and ate all of John's gum and Mentoes. At least his breath was good for a change. Everything checked out good though. Last time John went up and checked all of the soda in the frig has exploded. What a mess..with no water turned to clean it up..It will be sticky.

Needless to say I didn't get much done today..I did work an altered altoid tine..I will try and post a picture of it tomorrow nite..Thats all for me today..

Where does time go ???

Finally got postcards done..so I will add a couple of pictures of them.. The red one is from the fabric I made with the solvy..I made 12 similar ones. The next one represents where I live..Soap Lake, WA and look here for the lava lamp story.

The last is a sunrise..So now all these now have to be mailed. I'm also working on a couple altered altoid tins. They are a lot of fun to do..and it's also fun to go through junk drawers and boxes looking for little things to put on them. I think I will make one into a little shrine for my mom and dad..I will need to go through old pictures and see what I can find. I went to a junk store on Friday and found a great little book. Its Watson's Complete Speller from July 1884..Its not in the best of shape. It has little pencil drawings here and there and some words underlined..I think of the children that have used that little book. I'm using parts of it(copied) for one of my altered tins..kind of a school girl theme.

Time went so fast this week..I could hardly believe that it had been since Tuesday that I blogged. I received three more postcards from my Art2mail group I take pictures later and post them. Now its time to do a few dishes...shower and be productive...

I got mail !!!

I received three cards.......as you can see each one is special and unique. I have 13 ready to mail out but I'm waiting for clear envelopes. I think they just protects them a little bit more. I will post pictures before I mail them out. I used some of the fabric I made and I think they turned pretty nice. Very busy time at work for me. It's the end of the month and I have the next month activity calendar all planned, printed and ready to go tomottow. Then I make a big calendar for the wall..I mean big..4 feet by 5 feet. It's the focal point when anyone comes in. They like to see whats going on, what activities to attend or what activivites they can attend with their mom or dad. For those that don't know my daytime job is an Activity Professional at a longterm care facility. We try to keep them engaged in meaningful activities. Which at times is very challenging to say the least. But I have done this kind of work for about almost 25 years..and I love working with the elders. If I can bring just 1 smile to just 1 person lost in dementia it makes my whole day. Sometimes you can see that little sparkle in their eyes and you know they are remembering...something..sometime..somewhere or someone. Time to get busy and try and create something......

I made some fabric today...

The pink one is made from muslin and then I wet it down and painted it..with acrylique paints..my first attempt at this..I will probably use as background on a journal page or on postcards. The red one is bits and pieces of ribbon, wool, silk flowers, angleina etc. put between 2 pieces of washaway solvy..and I have an orignial piece. It is already cut-up and ready to be sewn down on postcards for swap for art2mail. I will post a picture when done with them. Hopefully I will be able to finish them tonight and I still have many other UFO'S in the works. It was nice and sunny today..but still very cold. Well thats all for now I need to get busy and get something completed. I spend too much time reading blogs..looking at pictures on the internet.

My First Valentine...

Here is picture of where we camp

I received this card in the mail today..its from Joy in Burke, VA. The picture doesn't do it justice.

It came through the mail great too. Sometimes you just never know what happens to things. I received one that looked like a truck had run over it and some that never make it to their distination I bet someone has a collection somewhere. Thank God its Friday tomorrow..Time to be creative..(a little house cleaning first) and cooking supper for me and hubby. Most of the snow is finally gone. I do long for more sun and spring to arrive..I know it's a long way off..But I look forward to going camping again..We did camp for Thanksgiving and cooked the turkey in BBQ. My daughter and hubby came over from the Seattle area, we had a good time. Time go read some blogs..

We had sun shine today...

Wow I almost forgot what the sun looked like..I haven't been very productive this week. Just coming home from work and the usual. I have started a little fiber art doll..but she has given me some trouble..so I will start over with her. She is so small I can't seem to get her turned right side out. I guess I need tiny hemostats or something like that..But I will keep trying. I plan to be very productive this week-end.. I have to..I have 13 postcards to make, at least 1 altered cigar box, the fiber art doll, and I have to start a challenge project for Quilting Arts Magazine
Plus the usual week-end stuff... cleaning, shopping..etc. At least I have Friday-Sunday. Well time to go relax...vegetate...and think creative thoughts and of course knit...

Cards received today....

Busy day at work today..but then when isn't it busy ? I'm working on a decorating project in addition to my normal daily duties. Someone has donated some money to redecorate the resident dining room. So I'm picking out new flooring, tables and chairs as well as paint. So it's quite a project and of course we all want it done today. I'm posting some pics. of post cards I received today. They are so much prettier in person. So if your in the neighborhood please stop by. If you into fiber art check this out this one of the groups I'm in and we have a lot of fun and get trade to fiber art.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FiberArtTraders

Here's the bread..

Here's the bread...the rye is on the top..I think it was too sticky and then didn't bake quite long enough. The whole wheat feels right though. We won't know until we cut into it. I also think the pan was too big for the rye bread, 4-6 quart if just right. I wasn't very productive today....but there's always tomorrow....

I've been busy..just puttering around with stuff

This is a little violin I picked up at junk store for 2 bucks..I think in it's formal life it was a
Christmas ornament..I'm altering it..Not sure what I will do with it..but if anybody likes its I will have a drawing and mail it to you..Jusy mention that in a post.

Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing.. I had planned to work on postcards..but other things distracted me. I made the bread yesterday..It's super easy and is the best bread ever. It has hard crusty crust.. and very earthy flavor. It take 20 hours to rasie.I still need to work on postcards and do some mending for John(hubby)..so I guess this is all for now...I will post pics. of bread when done.. Here is link to the bread recipe.http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2006/11/recipe-no-knead-bread-3-cups-all.html

Not to much to do so I went dancing...

Check me out here http://www.dancesisterdance.com/myvid/index.php?v=8568061ea0298

Not sure I did this right..but if you make it there it's a hoot. Be sure and try it for yourself...
Well I went to jury duty and was only there about 1 hour..they dismissed all 3 cases. But I still make a huge sum of money...$10.00...plus mileage..wow..what will I do with it all ? Spend it fiber art stuff of course. I have a couple of projects planned for tomorrow. First to a trip rubberstamp store and then going to work on postcards for the swap, try to alter a CD and then work on an altered book. While I'm relaxing watch TV I'm knitting a scarf. I will show progress pictures tomorrow.. My camera batteries were dead as well as the back-up ones. So I guess I will sign-off. You all take care and talk at you tomorrow....

Jury Duty..

Well I just called the jury hotline..so to speak.. and I have to report for jury duty tomorrow morning..They said to bring a book or some handywork. I'm knitting on some socks..but I will probably need more than that. Besides I'm using size 1 needles and it's like knitting with toothpicks. So I have to get someting together to take along and find something to read. So I can't linger much longer online tonight. On the bright side it might be nice to sit and read & knit all day. Well I don't suppose if I have to sit on a jury they will alow me to knit, but I can try enjoy myself while I'm waiting. Well you all take care and talk to you tomorrow night.

New postcards received

green from Kim in New York

purple from Marylee in California

red from Jo in Florida

I received 3 postcards in the mail today..They are from a new group that I joined..its a branch of the art2mail group. the one I'm in is called artcards22. I have sent off the 8, the funky ones of me being the Queen of Everything. I still have a dozen or so to make. But here it is 8:30 and I haven't done much but read blogs and do my own. I still have to go to work..in the morning. A friend at work is leaving and going to another job.. I will miss her but we will keep in touch.(right Lee?)I keep thinking just a few more years and I can retire and spend my day..blogging..fiberarting...(is that a word ?), quilting.etc...I never thought I would look forward to getting old. Well going to post the pictures of the postcarrds. Thats all for now folks...

Time for flowers this has cold to go...brrrrr

Camellia Spider Mum

The weather was very cold here today. My office has lots of windows and cold just seems to seep through. I told someone that if stuck my tongue on the wall it would stick to the wall. They just looked at me...with the look that says.. "she is crazy". My hubby brought me home 5 cigar boxes today that he got at the local smoke shop. I was so excited about..you would have thought I got a new fur coat or something. The FiberArtTrader group I'm in is going to trade altered boxes..so now I can participate. Since there are no real stores other than Walmart around I was worried that I would'nt find the right thing. We do have a wonderful fabric store just 5 miles away, but they don't carry everything that a gal could want. Although they do have three rooms full of beautiful yarns and three rooms full of quality quilting fabric and all the goodies to go with it. I'm posting a picture of two flowers that I knitted and felted. One is a Camellia and the other Spider Mum. The mum needs to be tacked down to a purse so all the little spider legs look right. The pattern is from Noni Designshttp://nonipatterns.com/. She has really wonderful patterns and is so nice. She answered my email very quickly(like 45 minutes) to help me understand the pattern better. I would probably make the spider mum in pastel colors next time. The large flower will probably go on a purse. Well thats all for this eve..Take care everyone..

Me again...

I made 8 of these postcards for another postcard swap..Its a big group so I still have 13 more to make..but we have 4 months to make them in..I hope they like them..take care all...

Opps..I posted the same pic.. now what do I do.. Oh welll

There will most likely be many more goofs like that one !! Hey I fixed it...