Love you forever

Happy Valentines Day

Enjoying the Process

It starts with a photograph and an idea... I love little houses and birdhouses. You may remember last year, my sketchbook was full of drawings from my collection of little houses. This year I went outside for my inspiration. Wouldn't you agree this is the year of winter and snow?
If your wondering where I'm getting my inspiration from join Linda and Laura Kemshall over at their website and join their DMTV show. It's a wonderful and creative learning channel created by them to inspire us all! I highly recommend it!
From this sketch I plan on doing a series of small quilts. Not your traditional quilts, I plan on dying my own fabric, printing with stamps, drawing, painting and using free motion stitching to quilt this series. I'm looking forward to some fun and most likely a few mistakes. I can't wait to share my experiments with you.

It always starts with my sketchbook which I lovingly refer to has my recipe book. From the drawing in the first photo I made this little stamp, and the ideas started to flow.

This was stamped and the design was created with quilting in mind. I've used pencil on the stamp to add value for depth. Sorry about the glare on this photo. I got so excited about the quilting designs I jumped to fabric.

I'm a little rusty with the free motion quilting and my sewing machine. Maybe I should think about color and quilting designs.

Tracing paper, pencil and oil pastel.

Another version

I plan on dying white cotton and will only use two colors for the process. I can always use oil pastel to add more color at a later time.

Today I cut the fabric and prepared the fabric for dying with soda ash. See you later in the week with photos of my experiments. I forgot to mention that I'm also sharing this process with my advance painting students.

Journal,Memories,Haiku

This weeks journal is dedicated to our beloved family pet, Lync and his love for the scent of pine.

Sun warming my soul
deeply inhale slowly exhale
swirling memories

Journaling and Therapy

It seems 2011 has become the year for Art Journaling. I have joined two groups, The Sketchbook Challenge and Strathmore's (Free) online workshop series. This months theme for the Sketchbook Challenge is "Highly Prized" and over at Strathmore's workshop, Pam Carriker is explaining her process for recycling old journal pages.
Many of you know I have been slowly recovering from pneumonia and decided that journaling about that would work best for me. With that said my lungs are very highly prized and to make this work with Pam's workshop, I will recycle this journal page using her technique's. After 8 weeks of having no energy, I'm finally feeling better and so ready to start creating again.

Sketchbook Challenge "Highly Prized"

This is my contribution for this week's theme "Highly Prized" over at the Sketchbook Challenge.
If your looking for something fun and need that extra motivation to work in your sketchbook follow the link above and join the fun.

Friendship,Family and Home

Friendship, family and home are the real gifts that God has giving us. Wishing all my blogger friends a wonderful Holiday.

Rekindling my Spirit

My niece, Lauren heard I was still sick with pneumonia, and sent me this beautiful flower arrangement. The little girl with Santa is me.

The next day her mom surprised me with this lovely Christmas arrangement.

Trying to lift my spirits yesterday, I took the flowers outside to photograph hoping the images will inspired me to paint.

It was four weeks ago that I was diagnosed with pneumonia, and I have to say it has not been fun. My head is so ready to get moving again but my body isn't cooperating. I still have a persistent cough and lack energy. Thursday my doctor recommended that I shouldn't return to work until after the holidays. To say that I'm not fighting depression would be a lie. Yesterday I took a few photographs and went on a short walk outside with my husband. It felt so good to get out of the house. This morning I ordered Heather Smith Jone's new book, Water Paper Paint in another attemp to lift my spirits. Todays goal is getting my watercolors out and painting my flowers. Wish me luck...