Thomas the tank engine

My house is full of artists.  Here is a drawing that my son did of Thomas the Tank engine on one of those magnetic erase boards.  It may not look all that special, but I am so proud of him.
My son has something very special about him, I haven't quite discovered it yet.  He has some struggles that put him in this wide range of autism disorders; and I have some struggles when I find myself frustrated and cluless about how to help him.  But he is my little man and I love him.

Bread and chocolate

Ah Nutella!  Have you ever had it?  It's a chocolate-hazelnut spread.  Europeans eat it on bread, fresh baked bread with crunchy crust.  Yum!  I like to dip pretzel sticks in it.


When I was an exchange student over a decade ago, Terri, my host mom liked to mix Nutella with peanut butter.  I never tried it that way, I didn't like peanut butter then.  But my taste has changed, I like peanut butter now and I am about to try it with Nutella.

I Love Good Thrifting

My local thrift store called 'Hidden Treasures', really does have hidden treasures.  Some time ago I bought a fabric remnant, it was hardly even a quarter of a yard.  I paid .25 cents.  Then I noticed in their jewelry case, little plastic bags full of mismatched beads and trinkets.  I picked one up for $3.


I used some of the fabric on different projects, either flowers I made for Maggie, or some months ago when I was making my cuffs.  But I still had some small pieces left.  Yesterday I was thinking how I like the look of necklaces that have large pendants with crystals and beads, but I hate the feel of the heavy metal on my chest.  And since I've been making jewelry with fabric, I though I'd give it a try.


I used a random square of words I cut from a .50 cents romance novel and used it on the photo square trinket.  It actually came from the same novel I was using when I was making my poetry busts.  And voila!!!

Stiching on Paper Again

Some time ago when I first started sewing on paper I stitched on quite a few photos that my husband took.  At first I handstitched, then I used my old machine.  And some of these stitched-on photographs got published in an on-line publication called Loupe Magazine
I am working on something similar now, although I can't post it yet since David may use it for a submission.  But here are some old ones.

Rock Art

It was a really busy week at work and I had to work extra hours.  And I've been feeling a little tired and on the verge of getting another sinus infection.  So today, my day off, I needed to relax and get out of the house.  We went to the Arabian Library.  This is a really cool building, to get to the entry you are walking thru a series of passages that resemble Canyon de Chelly.


And here are Patrick and Maggie in front of one of the tall walls.

After getting some lunch at a Balkan Bakery on 16th St and Bell Rd. (visit if you can and buy some Burek, you will thank me for it) we headed for the Rock Art Center located off I-17 and Deer Valley Rd.  David is working on an assignment for a magazine and he needed archeological sites/ruins etc. I am certain his photos are far better than mine, but I wasn't the one who had an assignment. 



While David and Patrick were taking pictures, Maggie and I found a picnic table and she had a little picnic with her 'friends', Dora the Explorer and Scooby Doo figurines.  Yeah I know, what a combo.


Inside the building there was a kid's section and the ceiling was some kind of matted metal, but you could see the reflections from the room.  I tried to take an interesting photo with Maggie in it.  Can you find the little pink girl?

And here they are, my family at the end of a fun day.

Romance

I felt encouraged after my apron got published in the winter issue of Belle Armoire in their 'Valentine's Day Art to Wear' section.  And with Valentine's day coming up, I've been feeling the need to create something sweet and romantic. 
So I've been experimenting with using stamps and permanent ink on white fabric (I've been recycling flat sheets that I no longer use) and then aging/dying the fabric with coffee to give it a vintage look.
I had this idea for a necklace where the pendant is made of fabric, and here is my first attempt.  













I hand stitched these, and even though I really like the look, hand stitching something small like this and then stuffing it with pollyfill for a 3D look was not very easy.  It was quite annoying trying to keep the pollyfill in.
I went to my beloved machine and tried machine stitching.  I think I like the machine stitch better, but I did have a similar problem with the polyfill.

To add the chain I cut tiny strips of fabric to make loops and stitched them on the back side of the heart.