Oh, so much to show

At the end of July we took our vacation to Frankfort Michigan. People always gather on the beach at sunset for the view. This was the best night that we made it to the show. It was good, but at times has been more spectacular.
The sun going through the clouds.
Dropping
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Then dropping behind the last clouds that were very low and touching the water, not to be seen for the rest of the night.
One of my favorite art galleries is the Laughing Fish Gallery in Suttons Bay, Michigan. An hour from Frankfort to the east. So much handmade goodness to look at. It’s a mother and daughter run shop, and Shelly is the mother. She was in the shop that day and was working on the fish. She cuts them out with a band saw and then paints them. I think they are wonderfully unique. I had gotten the bottom one last year, her name is Agnes and then I purchased the top three. The top one is Sheldon then Jelly Bean and Bubbles.
They are so fun! I have them above the doorway going into the kitchen and dining area.
I had to buy new succulents and replant them. I had gotten new potting soil the first time but it had gnats in it or the little buggers were attracted to the soil, I am not sure. Oh, they were just so annoying. I tried to get rid of the insects and killed the plants instead. I found some Miracle Grow soil for indoor plants that is not supposed to draw the bugs. So far so good. These are two new ones.
The one on the right is new and I love the way it looks. The left one lived through my dilemma.
All three of these are new and doing wonderfully!
These two were leftovers and that cactus is just going every which way.
While on vacation we stopped at Gwen Frostic again. I was looking for something that I had picked up last year but they didn’t stock it anymore. I picked up instead these postcards with 15 of her images. I thought they were too small to just send in the mail so I had cut some pretty papers as backings and adhered them onto cards.
I used the far right one to send to a friend and just thought it turned out quite pretty. I am always a fan of her raccoon. Last year I picked up a mug with the image on it and also a pin.
Yesterday I received a new supply of Bath and Body Works. Sophie decided to take over the box and make biscuits in it. Just the right size for her. Cats cannot resist a box on the floor.
I also ordered a new supply of goats milk soap. Oh my goodness, it is so so so creamy. I first tried half bars to see if I liked the fragrances which are very nice and delicate. This order I purchased full bars and she also sends a thank you gift. This one is Goat Milk Facial Scrub and I enjoyed using it. They are a small business located in Indiana and here is their website. It is called the Simple Goodness Soap Company.
I have to share this beautiful, handmade candle rug. My friend Cathy who lives in Arizona made it and sent it and I was delighted. I can’t display it on a table because I will find a cat sitting in the middle of it. I may frame it and hang it. I love it so with the little stiches and small cut out pieces.
Lastly here are two paintings I just got completed and sent off to their owner. This is “Chelsie in the Kitchen”. Size 6 X 6
“Among the Flowers”. Their little 17 yo Yorkie passed away recently and they asked for some paintings that would include her. Size 8 X 8 They were very pleased.


So this next week on Wednesday August 24th I am scheduled for a back surgery. It has been a year full of surgeries and physical therapy. I do hope this is the last for a long while. It definitely is needed and will be a process in recovery. In the lower three lumbar discs I don’t have any cartilage, it disappeared, and the spine is compressing the nerves that go down my legs to my feet. The doctor is going to put three cages in between the discs to straighten me up because I don’t stand up totally straight and will get it up off the nerves, that will be very welcome. Spine surgeries are scary but the people who have had this done have said they were glad and were so much better. My life has been put on hold for the year and I am ready to get back to doing the things I like to do easily. So if you happen to think of me on Wednesday send some good thoughts my way. ❤❤ You will hear from me again to let you know how it went.

A woodpecker, Art Dates, morning sky, Quilts, delightful room

Everything came together with these next set of pictures. I had my camera near, and also had the stronger lens on. I saw this woodpecker peaking out from the side of the feeder where the suet is.
I had to wait awhile but he decided to jump on the roof.
He then turned around and showed me his beautiful markings.
I think he was watching me take his picture!
Thinking about coming onto the other suet.
I was so thrilled to get these pictures. I don’t know what kind it was but he was beautiful!! I was so Delighted!
Noelle came over for an art date on Halloween. We decided that a Halloween Journal page was in order. She was dressed like a sweet witch and we printed it off in an eerie color. We used blending inks and stamps. Noelle is a cat gal like me and she needed a Sophie fix.
The picture we used for her page. Sophie again made it into the picture. She is truly a ham! Each time Noelle comes over I enjoy seeing what she is putting into her sketch book. Some really great ideas.
I had another Art Date with Lela and we worked with watercolors. Various kinds, just kids watercolors, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, artists watercolors and various papers. We also did washes, and blending and found what papers worked the best.
We used the hairdryer to quickly dry the watercolors. Lela was using the watercolor crayons to put various shades on the pumpkins and blending them. We had a really nice time and it gives this budding artist good ideas to go forward. She has many good and good ideas going on in her sketch book. It’s fun!
Sunrise sky on 11/18/20. Breathtaking and Georgeous!!!
This little quilt is my own design. It has it all, piecing, applique, embroidery and mitered corners. I would work on it every morning for an hour or so and it is completed. My goal is to use up everything that I have and minimally purchase anything. I have my own stash and inherited wonderful fabrics and quilts and tops from my Mother. I will be busy until I can’t see anymore. I made the top five years ago and finished it in 2020.
The next quilt I pulled out and have been working on.

My Mother passed away in 1997 of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It is just a horrible disease that has no cure. A person that is affected by it has holes in their brains and it can affect their eyes, balance, short term memory and then dementia. It is Alzheimer’s on steroids, from the first time we noticed that something wasn’t right until she passed away in 1997 it took only 55 days and she was 70 years old, it was very much shocking. My sister and I became acquainted with a group of people on a site who also had a loved one die of this disease. There are 143 hearts on this quilt, just a tip of the iceberg but it is a way that we were going to bring attention to this somewhat unknown disease. I started this quilt in 2000 and pulled it out this year to get it finished, it should take me all of 2021. The hearts are embroidered by many different people. I would send out names, blocks of fabric and a heart template and they would send back embroidered hearts. Some people just did their own loved ones and others asked if someone could do theirs because they didn’t know how to embroider. All the fabric is from my Mothers stash. The words at the top of the quilt….We Lost You to CJD…..at the bottom…..You Are Not Forgotten. I now work on appliqueing the side petals each morning. I will probably need to make more. Just taking my time and enjoying the process.

This view brings me joy. It it looking from our foyer area into my studio. So many things that I love in this picture. The paintings in the studio, my Carrie Schmitt original, the little table I found at a Meijer store in Michigan. I keep candles in it. I would collect miniatures when growing up and I keep them in that little shelf with a glass door, found at Home Goods. The chalk painted table in a turquois blue. The little heart wings on the shelf is by Janet Lynch of Heart Werks, a local artist.
Two pretty deep drawers that hold candles in glass jars.
One of my favorite pieces of pottery from an artist at a show. I don’t know who they are, it was a husband and wife team and she was also an art teacher. It was during my first year of doing shows. Do you have any areas in your home that just give you a great rush of joy?

I hope you are staying healthy. If you have any comments or questions I would love to get them.

On My Camera

This past weekend I participated in the Arts and Apple Art Fair in Rochester Michigan north of Detroit. It is put on by Paint Creek Center for the Arts. This is Paint Creek and it was behind my booth.

It was held in the Municipal Park and my tent is the one with the rounded top on the curve of the sidewalk. I was in the area of trees and had to wear a jacket often.

I brought this painting along with me to work on in my room. I plan to have this it done for the Art at the Riverside show in Leo, IN on Sept. 23rd. I did this 3 day show solo and I missed my helpers, but it is always good to know that one can get the job done alone.  I did have help from a neighboring artist to bring down my tent roof though.

Felicia from housekeeping left a note for me, that she liked my painting. I really appreciated that.

I am so happy to say that our kittens are growing nicely. They are the sweetest little creatures! We have forever homes for every one of them, makes my heart sing.

Beautiful sunset to end our day before we are supposed to get some rain. We do need some. Thinking of all the people who have been affected by the recent hurricanes, what an event!

Beginning the day

I am so thrilled that the camera picked up the colors of this mornings sunrise perfectly. This is what it looked like my friends. I couldn’t let it go by, from the clouds to the colors. This is for those who slept in and missed this beauty and those of us that just sigh when we look at it.

The silhouettes of the trees and the wispy clouds.

This color combo is my favorite….

I put this wreath on a back door of our house, one that can be seen from the road. Last year I had a finch build a nest and raise her babies till they flew away. It is a perfect spot because it is sheltered from the wind, disguised by the twigs and away from predators. She is a pretty smart lady and she is back again. All is well.

See how it can hardly be noticed? I wouldn’t have paid attention if I wouldn’t have heard all the birds chattering between themselves.

It is all ready for the eggs. Last year there were five and that nest was full of birds and poop. Then one day poof, the nest was empty. It was very neat to watch. I just love nature! Thanks for stopping.

 

A little sunshine for ya

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As I write this the temp. outside is 20 degrees with a prediction of snow. We have really been fortunate this year with a beautiful, comfortable fall up until Sunday the 4 of December. Now is the season where the sun doesn’t show his face too much. When it does peek it makes me feel instantly better with more energy. Then he goes behind those grey clouds again to play hide and seek. I have gathered together my pictures of sunshine that I was called to create. This is my most recent mixed media sunflower. 5 X 5 canvas, the brushstrokes go out onto the sides of the canvas and a textured middle.

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I call this my Van Gogh like sunshine for the recently complete “In the Pines”.

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A torn paper sun that is warming the “Wildflower Field” painting.

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I always am drawn to a beautiful sunset. We get many in our area.

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I made a pop-up box and sent it to a friend. This sunshine stamp was used to go along with the coffee stamps because coffee is great with the sunrise.

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An earlier sunflower painting. Wouldn’t this make you happy to have it on a shelf at work. Put a little sunshine in your work day. Again a 5 X 5 canvas.

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I used that same sun on a card and made it dimensional. My sun faces have to have rosy cheeks.

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This little sun I picked up at a third world shop that was possible made in Portugal or Bolivia, I can’t recall. I enjoyed all the detail in it.

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From our walk through an Acres Land Trust area, the sunshine through the trees.

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One morning this year I watched the sun rise and it was glorious!

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A stained glass garden stake I had in front of my catmint, the sun shining on a road. It is such a pretty piece. If you live in the north and don’t get much sunshine during this time of the year, I hope you find ways that help. Enjoy the peeks of sunshine when he lets us know that he is still back there even though it doesn’t seem like it. The sunflower pictures prints can be found in my Etsy shop.

evening sky

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Such a pretty late afternoon sky. I love it that the days are growing longer now.

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I would have liked to get the sun setting but I didn’t want to venture too far from the house out in the street. It was chilly outside. The reddish clouds are fabulous! I am so drawn to a pretty sky.

Good Saturday Morning!

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The sunrise was so pretty this morning, especially through the tree silhouettes, I just had to show you.

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Last Saturday I participated in a craft show in Fort Wayne. Here is the table half of my booth. We had a fair amount of visitors but they were telling me that there were many of these shows going on that weekend. Tis the season for sure.

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Then here is my display board. Again I received nice comments about my work. Sold a couple of prints and gave out my business cards.

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I was at an antique mall looking for an interesting display and I found this old silverware box. I may paint it or I may not and leave the scratches and character. I haven’t decided yet.

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I put my note-cards I made from the carved stamps in it.

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I sold 9 painted rocks and got orders for 3 more. I was happy with that.

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This past Monday evening I met my sister and niece at the Bottle and Bottega for a mixed media paint in with some wine. I thought this wall was really cute with the paint splotches.

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Here we are with our paintings. It is hard to do a masterpiece in 2.5 hours.

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My sister Linda concentrating on adding some flowing hair to her lady.

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My sister also made some discs to put in the shower to open up nasal passages. She works with essential oils and these have lavendar, eucalyptus and rosemary in them. They smell great and I can see how it will help.

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Lastly, foxes are big this year and I wanted to show these really cute placements that I picked up. They are sparkly and you can kind of tell that. I was taken by the cute face of the fox. Have a great weekend and as always…Thanks for stopping!

 

Too Pretty not to Share

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I know I share a lot of sky pictures but when my 21 year old says Mom, you need to come look at this sunset, I knew it had to be good. It was picture-worthy for sure. I did not do any kind of touching up for this, which I usually don’t, it is all it’s own glory. Just Amazing!

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The day lilies are starting to pop open. This one opened this morning and was influenced by the sunset I’m sure. They are the same color.

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I love sun and moon things. This is just one of those metal sticks for the garden. I have always thought it is pretty though I was a wee bit disappointed that it didn’t glow.

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The moonbeam coreopsis are showing their faces.

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Flower from still the un-named bush we have.

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The grasses are looking lovely, I have 4 of these and as you can tell they flow nicely in the wind. It moved as I snapped the picture. They are doing really well for their first year.

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I had forgotten that I planted nasturtium seeds in these pots until I looked this morning. Lo and behold they are showing up nicely. Nasturtium are one of the easiest seeds to grow. They are beautiful, and edible. You can use them in your salads to add color. Zinnias and Morning Glorys are right up there in easy also.

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We have had so much rain it filled up my fountain nicely. I have a rain gauge the goes to 8 inches and it was overflowing.

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First year for these day lilies. I believe they are called Betsy Ross and may be red and green, but we will really just have to wait and see. I bought 10 plants and they also sent me 3 free also named of a historical figure, maybe Abe Lincoln or George Washington…can’t remember. They are very hardy and larger with buds now.

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Here is a Betsy Ross with a bud.

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I plugged in the fountain for you. I don’t plug it in on windy days (which are often) it just blows all of the water out and I can’t keep up. It looks pretty here though.

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There is a story here…..Pavel the cat (upper right) was being ornery and following Lily the cat(bottom left) and she was spitting, and sputtering and hissing and getting all wrapped around the axle and always makes it sound worse than it is. That brought out Stonewall (lower right) and Sophie (upper left) and not shown Sebastian, I think he went back to sleep. When something big goes on everybody wants a piece of it. We had to disburse the crowd or there would have been a riot. My next project Sophie is under. I am going to recover the chair pads, thanks to youtube. It looked pretty easy and I purchased the fabric on the deep discount table at Joanne’s Fabrics. I hope to get to it next week. As Always-Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Weekend!

 

 

Sky Show

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On Monday morning the 8th, this was the sun. I tried to get it with my phone camera but it wouldn’t get the redness so I had to run in and get my Nikon so I lost some time. It was even more brilliant than this, very captivating.

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Last night, I was sitting on my swing by the pond just watching these clouds and sun. There were three different areas changing and moving. It was great entertainment. It seems as if this shot should include the sound of singing angels.

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The cloud is changing.

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It is starting to look like an axe.

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Cool sun-rays coming from the hole in the clouds.

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Here is another area of clouds right in front of me. If I were knowledgeable about cloud formations I am sure there would be a special name for this one. It looks like pictures of the atomic bomb when it explodes. There were definitely storms brewing somewhere far off though.

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Here it is, doing it’s quick change routine.

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The colors and reflection off the pond.

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There was a lot going on out there.

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I had inexpensive entertainment.

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I am loving the graduation of color, from light to dark.

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This looks like a reflection through a window on the ceiling.

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Darkness is coming upon the area.

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The reflection of the colors on the windows is breathtaking.

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Now for the lightening show in the far off distance.

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I struggled for the settings to capture these, but I did something right.

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Timing also for the lighting is difficult. I just kept clicking the shutter.

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I just couldn’t get enough of it all. We hadn’t had much rain by the time I went to bed. I think this time it was just all around us. As always, I appreciate your visit.

S’moremallows

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I have had a greatly productive couple of days and boy am I pooped but I just had to share a bunch of things before I went to bed. Since we are having nieces and nephew come for an overnighter we had to buy grocerys. Smores are always a crowd pleaser so I picked up all the 3 ingredients for them. Look at these new marshmallows they have come out with. They are flat so they will fit between the graham crackers very neatly. How grand is that…Smoremallows!

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Some strawberries to cut up. They small really good!

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Cantaloup to cut up also. I made sure I got the obligatory flat spots so they sat in the field long enough to ripen.

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Why so many yogurts you are probably thinking. We don’t usually do our main shopping at Walmart but we had to pick up a few things and took advantage of this time to get yogurt. Walmart has the best variety of yogurts. My favorite is cherry then chocolate cherry and Tom’s is toasted coconut vanilla. We like to stock up.

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I couldn’t end the day without a beautiful sunset picture. We have had so many wonderful sunsets and sunrises.

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The chocolate and the graham crackers are all ready to go at a moments notice.

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Here they are from last year. I am going to have to dig out those goggles again.

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The whole main floor of my house was cleaned very, very well, wiping down the baseboards and doors to cleaning the trash cans and climbing up to clean off the light fixtures, it smells  great in here!  I was able to finish  paintings this week and get them posted to my Etsy shop. Here are very early stages of the paintings.

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Changing Lives, a very colorful painting with 3 dimensional elements.

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Truth…a masculine color scheme and a historical quote of Thomas Jefferson.

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Lastly I have to show off my new fitbit bands. My niece Angie surprised me with them. They are so cute! Beats my black one I was wearing. I don’t know who the company was but she found them on Amazon.  The reason I am so tired…..16, 932 steps! I think I can go a little lighter tomorrow. As always, Thank for stopping