The weather here for the last several days has been bitterly cold and there have been very high winds, although those seem to have subsided.  I took peek at the lunar eclipse on Sunday evening - it was really amazing. I haven't seen one that nice since the fall of 2004, which was coincidentally  the only time I have ever got to experience the Aurora Borealis (outside Dover, DE to be exact). 
In any case, our 1890's stone cottage is pretty snug, but the cold gets in via the bathroom (a not so snug addition to the house) so all anyone wants to do is wrap in blankets and keep their hands warm. Which translates into no actual art being created but lots of ideas perking in the mind. Maybe some sort of lunar eclipse piece? hmmmmm

I actually finished a piece!

I'm a huge "Where the Wild Things Are" fan and am trying to get my young niece hooked as well.  I got her an adorable Tshirt with some of the characters on it (beautiful cotton!) but decided it needed something a little .... MORE.  so I got some sweet narrow white cotton lace to sew around the bottom. But the more I looked at it, the more I decided that it wasn't enough.  So I decided to embroider the lace onto the bottom of the Tshirt and it came out so good!!  I was super pleased with it!!

Only one small problem - I was so anxious that I forgot to take a full photo of the finished product before I gave it to her! <laugh> I'm sure I will see her wear it sometime so look for a photo in the future!

Boy it really feels good to have thought about, created, and followed through to completion a project!! It has been so long since I've done that - I doubt that means my depression is over (because is sure isn't) but I am just really glad I could make Lily smile!

 ​ Ok - the photograph of the piece could have turned out better but....

I decided to make a learning tool for the babe of a friend who loves her animals.  I wanted something that was more than a blanket - something that could be used to tell stories and help a kid learn to talk about their world, to discover colors and all that good stuff.

Luckily, I found the best fabric and interspersed it with the rather large collection of animal fabrics I already possessed and tada! 

The piece is 44inches by 36 inches; each piece was first sewed onto the backing before each edge was embroidered over top.  The binding was attached by sewing machine (thanks mom!).  

I'm thrilled that both my friend and her wee bairn love the piece and get a lot of use from it! 

​ ...but it’s worth it!

I have been devoting most of my time (when not at work) to a new piece.  I'm not ready to post pictures because it is a gift for someone and it has to be ready within the next 7 days!  It is the largest piece I've ever done and certainly the most colorful!  It has required a lot of hand sewing applique and now I am working on the embroidery.  So far, I am super happy with it but the true test will be how the recipient likes it! (fingers crossed!).

As soon as it has been gifted, I will post photos!

PS. Holes in my fingers? Yes, I often stab myself on the threaded needles while I'm sewing - especially during the applique process! Of course, I accidentally impale myself on the pins, too.... (so clumsy!) 

 I have been suffering from a creative dry spell. It isn't that I don't have any projects that need doing or even deadlines - it's that I'm either too tired or unmotivated or just feel weird about putting hands to fabric and creating.

However, what I have been doing is putting my hands in the dirt. 

We have two decks - a narrow one on the side of our place and a large one at the rear (which is what we use as our main entrance). I don't like the narrow deck - it’s too high off the ground and too narrow and old wood.  Michael loves it and uses it as his 'smoking' room.  He also has the potato planters out there and his greenhouse.  I love the one at the back and have been slowly turning it into the perfect summer oasis complete with flag pole, umbrella, planters, lanterns, outdoor rugs, seat, coffee table - the works. I even created a water garden complete with a fountain! 

It has been such fun picking out the planters, purchasing the flowers and plants, transplanting, staging - out door interior design on a budget!   I have also found sticking my hands in the dirt very therapeutic, too! 

​Now some might say there isn't much creativity in putting together a few plants and a folding chair - but I doubt Mike would agree, considering all the shifting around of planters he has had to do as I perfect this design!  He also figured out how to get the fountain placed perfectly! 

Michael is the 'big garden' guy - he has tons of idea about what to do with the big garden we have over at the farm (which is why he is starting seeds in his greenhouse) - he has the big vision.  I'm more the vignette sort. Luckily both our styles will make for lots of getting our hands and toes in the dirt and a wonderful blossoming & green summer!

And still I am rolling in the dirt of a serious dry spell.

I do have this crocheted blanket I've been working on since 1980 (yes, 1980) - a couple of times I have declared it as FINISHED and have used it, but it is a square and isn't long enough to be comfy.  After the move to the new place, I got this great fabric basket from a big box store and had all the yarn and the blanket in that next to my recliner so I could work on it while watching TV with my honey.

But we don't watch TV together very much (although we did watch a good portion of the NFL draft together......).

So I took the basket up to the bedroom so I could work on it up there watching TV and I have actually done that - so that was a smart move.

Back in February, I picked up some of the 'Downtown Abbey' yarn (great marketing ya'll!) via Amazon and it was pricey and I quickly figured out that I didn't get enough to use on this blanket-that-never-seems-to-get-finished.  Yesterday I found more of the exact yarn I needed at AC Moore's at half the price so I picked up what I needed.  Last night was spent making yarn balls.

​I live an extremely exciting life!

I can't believe that March is almost over and that we've been in the new place more than 3 full months!

What's worse, though, is that in those 3 full months I've created basically nothing. 

Wait - that's not exactly true - I did create some cute valentines on stretched canvas for Michael and my parents - something they can take out year to year and display. 

They are cute but.... I'm feeling pretty creative-challenged.

I've bought stuff to make some projects, but I never seem to get to actually making them.  I could blame being sick, but that's pretty lame.

I'm very frustrated with myself - I have this great place and tons of room to work and yet I'm not creating!   Most lackluster artist ever!

In January, I used Shutterfly to make a hardbound book of my honey's photographs and some of his writings - it was an early Valentine's present but I also wanted him to have a way to display his art in a different way.

After listening to myself whine above (and after receiving a 50% off coupon) I decided to do the same for myself.  It was a bit of a process - I didn't have photographs of all my work, so I had to handle that plus you can do a lot of editing in Shutterfly.... but I finished the book and am waiting for it to be printed and shipped.

I hope it comes out as awesome as Mike's book did!