Locks of Love

Today my oldest daughter Abby got her hair cut to donate to Locks of Love, an organization that creates hair pieces for children who have lost their hair to cancer or other medical treatments. Here are the pictures of her cute new do!

Before...

During (thank you Dena!)

After!

Finished Wall Art

I finally have a finished project in my home! Since moving into this new house (over a year ago) I have been struggling with how to decorate. After much window shopping and planning, I decided that purchased art just wasn't what I wanted. I would find a piece here and there that I liked, but nothing that really "went together" so I decided to make it myself. The first installment was the "Home for a Bird" today I am proud to post the second piece, "Song Bird" as well as the clock that inspired this art.

"Song Bird"

Here are a couple of close ups to show the techniques I used.

 

 

 

 

 

"Home for a Bird" and "Song Bird" with the clock that inspired me.

As I experienced the process of making these pieces, I created not only the art, but quite a mess as well. Because of that I leave you today with the following quote...
"It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, and I know of no substitute for the force and beauty of its process." Henry James

Field Trip Day

Today was field trip day for the 4th graders. Being the "good" mom I'd like to think I am I chaperoned the trip to the Old Penitentiary. A lot of history was discussed, interesting facts learned and a good time was had by all, especially the parents and teacher when we got to "lock down" the class!

A home for the bird

Last weekend I created a bird. As you may recall, he needed a home. I have been working on that home for the week and finally finished it today. Here is part one of what will eventually be a two piece mixed media collage set.

And here are some close ups...

 The nest is made of wool, hemp and raffia fibers felted together with the addition of some twigs from my yard. The bark is from the white birch also in my yard. I dyed the lace with alcohol ink and stitched the paper pleats on my sewing machine.





                      


                      




Here you can see the details on the envelope, beads on a copper wire. The flowers are also dyed with alcohol ink and the poem (by Percy Bysshe Shelley) is printed on velum.

Today...

Well, today was as beautiful as Wednesday was rainy. Inspired by the sudden burst of spring air I took the following pictures of our peach tree in full bloom. Look closely at the photo on the right and you will see a bee that Emily (or "Emmy" of Emmy and Ed) insisted I get a photo of.

look for bee here!

And here are the photos of the team blanket that I promised, no worse for the wear after a washing.

Oh, did I mention it's reversible?

Ahhhhh, Spring Sports...

Alas, the season of indoor sports has come to an end. Basketball is over and we are enjoying the days of lacrosse. The good news is Abby's team won yesterdays game. The bad news is in typical spring fashion, it poured down rain. I made a team blanket to combat the spring chill and had hoped to share it with you today after it's debut last night. Unfortunately due to the rain that will have to be postponed, Ahhhh, the joys of spring. Photos will be forthcoming as soon as the mud comes out in the wash!

Hurray it's doggy bath day!

So why in my right mind would I be excited to give my dog a bath you ask? Especially since we are talking over 100 pounds of Malamute. Well, when my beloved Emma passed away (she was my last Malamute) I had a strange request for the vet taking care of her remains. I asked that she be shaved before cremation so I could have her fur washed and spun and knit into a keepsake so I would always have her with me. Well, it's been over a year and I still have a big bag of dog fur, but I have since taken up needle felting. I figured the other day that if you can felt wool, you can probably felt dog hair. After all, I knew someone who used dog hair in weaving and other projects when I was a kid. So, I brushed my doggy and tried it out and guess what? I was right! now I still haven't been brave enough to use the hair from my beloved Emma, but check out the flowers I made from the hair I tested and dyed last week!

Here's the catch, there is some dog hair in here, but also some wool. I bet you can't tell which is which. (ok the purple one and the green leaves are the dog hair) but did I fool you?

Here's to art!

What did I do today?

Today I really wanted to start a new collage I sketched out to match  the clock above my fireplace. Instead, I ended up taking my daughter and her friend to the mall  since they had worked so hard on their science fair project. The weather was nice so we took a little time to start spring cleaning the yard, but I did manage to decoupage one of the birds I planned for my project I'm pretty happy with it, he is a Styrofoam and paper mache' base with chalked torn paper and ink dyed feathers. Maybe tomorrow I can give him a home in the still unfinished collage...

Time to have some dinner and relax for the rest of my Saturday! Hope for creative dreams...

Abby's a winner!

Well, on April 9 our daughter Abby went to the state Science Olympiad competition and won first place in the ornithology category. This is what I did with her medal.

Welcome

Well, I think I've finally done it! Created a blog that is. If all goes according to plan, you can see this and I can finally write about what I've been doing. We'll use this as a test, shall we? If I can find myself again on-line, I'll know you can too and add plenty later. Until then, keep creating.