Shawl Pins

So I saw these gorgeous shawl pins at the fiber fair and though.."Well, I could make that."

So I did.

(I'm gonna call this one "Purple Haze")

Bardic Guild Quilt pics

Hera

This is my Hera ink and watercolor.

(Sitting on a throne with a lotus scepter.)

I think she turned out alright. Though I wonder if her posture and garb belies her stature.

(Close-up of her face and scepter.)

I hope you like it!

Spoonflower

So I was introduced to the site Spoonflower.com. It allows you to upload your own designs and have them printed on fabric.

Anyone with a few bucks and an image can create their own fabric!!!

I decided to give it a try and uploaded two designs, one I downloaded of three cranes and a fleur de lis pattern I quickly sketched up in MS Paint. Really, the interface couldn't be easier and they also have an editor program that you can use to add designs or edit the pictures as well.

They promise an 11 day turn around to ship. My swatches were ordered 9/2 and arrived last night (9/15) So from order, to printing to delivery all told took 13 days!



I am pleased with the turnout, as well as the turn around time. I have yet to wash the fabric, but it looks like it will hold up alright to gentle cycle.

For people who either quilt or just can't find the perfect fabric for their product, you can be a fabric designer!!!! I highly recommend giving it a try!

Also, if you like my fleur de lis fabric, it can also be bought there at my designer page! And they allow you to sell original designs that you've purchased swatches of and you get a percentage of the order profits! So if you are better than me, you might be able to sell something and make a little money too!

Love is....

coming home to a handmade, candle lit dinner.

It was delicious and really sweet.

<3 you.

Zeus - Watercolor Pencil and Ink

So I wanted to do a drawing for my week with researching and learning about Zeus. So I found an image off www.theoi.com of Zeus from a vase and decided to try and give it a shot. It seems that the majority of early paintings of Zeus were pretty simple and not too complicated.

My version seems to have turned out a bit cartoony, but all in all, not the white haired dude chillin' on Mt. Olympus that I had imagined.

I'm not a drawer or painter by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted to try anyways.

First come the mediocre sketches with a #2 pencil.

Then, I picked the wider one vs. the taller so you could see his arms. And I started filling in with water color pencils.

....and promptly remembered I should have outlined in ink first.

Continuing with the colored pencils, dseciding on this orange for the background because I thought it was a good "vase" color.

This is the picture all colored in with watercolor pencils.

The picture after the brushes did their pass over the pigment.

I really do like how it turned out, despite the cartoony nature of it. But I got some good insight into Zeus and I really think he appreciates the effort I put in to try and understand him.

My Joe

This is my Joe.

(Pretty handsome, huh?)

Most people may not know, but he's a pretty amazing guy.

He's clever and witty and isn't afraid of being downright silly.

(Dressed as a ballerina for Halloween)

He is the slayer of insects and the defender of our home from drunk guys trying to do yardwork against our will.

He cooks way better than anyone I know and has a close, personal relationship with Alton Brown.

(Ouch.)


He is the man who teaches me, questions me and is the one who knows how to put my pieces back together when I fall apart.

If I ask him a question he doesn't know, he goes to find out the answer because he likes learning as much as I do.

He is an amazing (if not occasionally frustrating) master of debate.

He doesn't mind my insatiable thirst to be something greater, to learn something better and to go experience more things in life with the stupid awe of a kid.

He doesn't mind me taking pictures of him cooking, spelunking, opening presents, making books, hundreds and hundreds of pictures.

When I wake up from the middle of a nightmare, he tells me I need to go back to sleep because he was just about to come save me. He makes me feel safe.

No matter what happens, I know he is my partner, in every sense of the word.

(I love you)

Changing Perspectives

So, the other day, I got in my car and sprayed sunscreen on my arms before the blazing ride home from work.

I realized I had smeared some on my windshield. So I got a napkin and proceeded to wipe it off. But, when I started in the middle and saw the sides were all blurry, I couldn't bring myself to clean it.


It looked all dreamy and neat and so I left it that way...now the a-holes behind me on the freeway seem all dreamy and that makes them less annoying.

Lotus candle holder

Yay! So the tealight lotus took a little longer than I hoped, but I finished it nonetheless between other things I was working on this week.

I think it's pretty adorable, if I may say so!

It's nice to mark another thing off my queue.

Pears!!

So I'm super excited about the pear tree in the back yard. When we went on vacation 2 weeks ago, most of the pears either fell and rotted or were stolen by the neighborhood squirrels.

But, after taking a second glance, I was able to salvage these beauties!!!



NOM!