Secret Knitter's Present

I have been working on a secret for Miss Mouse's (aka Denise's) Christmas and birthday present and I have finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think as a prototype this will be a perfect addition for any knitter's tool chest...though it is probably too big to go in the chest.
I am making more for Nese's friends from the yarn shop to test. If they are liked and are something people think would be a hit I may make a bunch for different LYS's.
Have I got your curiousity up Miss Mouse? Well, you will just have to wait and see!
I may make it over to Raleigh to hang for a day and night if you want company in the next couple of weeks.
Until then.......

Fly Red Birds Fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Octopi, Flowers, and Porch

I am revamping some things in the house for Will's return and the biggest thing is the bathroom floor.
























I also repainted the porch railings and really like the way they look. I don't know if I should paint the top and bottom of the railing. Denise let me know what you think.
That's Henry our sweet black cat.

Lucy all tucked in a ready to go to sleep

Is this not the cutest picture ever?
Last night I tucked Lucy in and thought it was so cute I went to get the camera. Just as I snapped she yawned. She looks like a little fox in the bed. And the colors just show off her pretty fur. What a sweetie

Octopus

I am painting some octopuses...octopi on my bathroom floor. The inspiration is that beautiful yellow and blue french fabric called toile. I will probably paint two crazy octopi with their legs going up the walls in parts. I am very excited to see how it turns out.

Ball Tree

Outside the studio I have a crepe myrtle tree that I have started hanging clay balls in and I just love the way it looks. I also want to start a bottle tree in the front yard. The ones that they have in southern seaside towns that ward off evil spirits. They make the most beautiful sounds in the wind. Today I am off to my last show of the season and I am super excited! Yay for the end of a very tough season!

Carving Mitts

I made these mitts for carving. They are super warm and I just love the color.
I'm just excited I actually finished a project. I can't wait to try them out. They are perfect for keeping my hands warm in the cold studio while I am sitting and carving.

Lucky Lucky Potter

I went from making pots in my sweet, old, work horse Molly to.......




















being able to order this monsterous kiln twice it's size and with a computer to boot!
I am one lucky potter!

I
















See how happy this has made me. I can't wait to fire her. She doesn't have a name yet but I love her blue box. And she is so shiny and actually has a new kiln smell. I know there are potters out there who know what I am talking about. It is a lovely smell that hopefully I will be able to smell again in my life time.

Whooooo
Hooooooo!
I will be able to make twice as many pots!!!!!

Masks

I made a couple of masks for a donation to an arts auction and this is my favorite one. I am off to London today on this rain soaked day to see my love!
Will post from there.

Nature's Diamonds

On such a sad and unholy day I wanted to post pictures of nature at it's most wonderful self. Coming up with small gestures of beauty to surprise us just walking through the yard. Here, these mushrooms were behind a bush next to my mailbox. And the spider webs are on my bushes every morning when I wake up.

Jolly Roger

I am making the jolly roger sweater for Will for his London trip. This is the front of the sweater made in cheap polyester red heart yarn. I want to make sure the fit is exactly right before I use the lamb's pride yarn for the real sweater.
It is on order at the LYS anyway and hasn't come in yet.
I can't wait for him to see it. He is in Nanahayla for the week with some of his freshman students and I want to try and finish the sweater before he gets back for him to try on. I am taking the real sweater over when I go to London on Sept. 13th. SO....I spent most of today so far crocheting as fast as my fingers could fly instead of making pottery like I should be doing.
Tomorrow I am going to make the back and hopefully the 2 sleeves. I have to get into the studio today or my boss is going to kill me.

Dolls from Debbie Stollar's new crochet book

I recently was at Lake Ontario on vacation and made these cute dolls for my 2 little nieces Jayme and Kara. They loved them. Before I buy expensive yarn I always like to do a test in cheap yarn and these are made with the polyester red heart yarn from wal-mart. But I think they turned out super cute. And for little girls the yarn is perfect because it can go in the washer and dryer.

Short and Sweet Shrug

I finally finished a project. I am classic about having 10 crochet projects going and never finishing one of them. I decided after being inspired by Miss Grey ( see haphazardknitter on my links area) that I wouldn't start anything new until I got at least this piece done.
This pattern is the Short and Sweet Bolero in the Happy Hooker book. I think that the pattern is pretty straight forward but I found many mistakes. Mistakes that someone experienced would spot and be able to figure out easily...but not so great a pattern for the beginners.
And the shells turn out really nice. All in all I loved making this project. These pictures are right after I blocked the sweater.
I am giving it to my mom and hopefully it will fit her perfectly!
I am getting ready to make the cowboy hat in this book and the Jolly Roger for my sweetie for his trip to London. He needs something warm to wear for all those cold rainy days in the rain capital of Europe.

I made this!

On Friday I went to a basket weaving workshop and made this wonderful NC farm basket. I am using it for my crochet work. It is really roomy and I love the soft leather handles. I think I am going to stain it though.

Dorothy Alter

Here is the Dorothy alter. I don't know how much I like the shoes around dorothy in the picture but in person it was amazingly glittery. Almost too bright to look at. Very gaudy and I loved it!
Will did the photographs in all the pictures that you see. Take a closer look at the pictures of the shoes. I love these photos. I think his work is amazing and I am not biased at all.

More pictures from the show

Here are the pictures of the wall of tiles that I made. They are all a deep colbalt blue some almost purple.

Here they are! Pictures from the show!

I finally have gotten around to downloading the pictures from the show! We took 173 pictures and everyone of them turned out well. I love digital cameras.
The first ones I am going to put up are of the sketches I did while watching the movie over and over. And the last couple are the Tinman's and Scarecrow's alters.

the ever so beautiful Judy Garland in blue

We represent....

the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild. And in the name of the lollipop guillllldddd, we wish to welcome you to munchkinland!

Toto and the tinman

Here are two more paintings in progress.
Toto looks a little like Chickweed but I guess that is to be expected.

Scarecrow

Here is one of the paintings for the show. This one is my favorite so far but the one of the wicked witch may over take this one eventually. I'll post that one as soon as it is done.

Imagine my embarrasment when...

I ran over the lawn mower with the suburban.
I was running out in the middle of that big rain storm. It was coming down in sheets and I absolutely hate being wet unless I am swimming or bathing. So I was running to the car and totally missed the fact that Will had moved the lawn mower up near the house so it wouldn't get stolen.
I went forward and got stuck and when I felt the car not moving forward any more I backed up and went forward again. Only to get stuck again. In a car this big you don't feel anything at all and I just thought the wheels were spinning because of all the water. So I got out and this is what I saw.
I am so lucky that my husband thought it was funny. He has picked on me since the incident and I feel this will be a story I may not live down.

Roasted tomato and peach sauce

This recipe is for grilled chicken or a grilled white fish such as bass or catfish:
3 peaches chopped up
4 roma tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
2 inches square of havarti cheese
salt and pepper to taste

roast tomatoes and garlic on a roasting pan with a little olive oil at 425 degrees for about 30 mins until tan to brown on top and the garlic is golden. Put tomaotoes and garlic in processor or blender with3/4 of the peaches, havarti cheese and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. taste to make sure it needs no other taste....hint: maybe some rosemary if you have it fresh or cilantro if you are looking for a bit of pizazz. (I like it just the way it is).
Take out of processor and pour into a beautiful blue or green bowl to set off the wonderful peachy orange color and add the rest of the peaches. Stir.
We put a small portion of this sauce on the plate and spread it out under marinated and grilled chicken breast and left the rest in the bowl so people can serve the sauce themselves. It truly was one of the best sauces I have had of late and I will have it on hand in the fridge until the peaches are no longer in season.
Enjoy!

Sad news of the Sunflowers.

We usually grow sunflowers in this spot beside the house next to the peach tree. They were all coming up nicely and getting ready to flower and then....we agreed to babysit a puppy and a HUGE black lab. They have systematically torn down almost every sunflower out there. I did manage to make a pretty arrangement and we do have this one still standing. This is a volunteer sunflower that grew up right outside of the studio.

Another note:
I am working on a comission for a big vase with a coral reef on it and a mermaid.
These are the sketch tiles for the project.

Finished shoes

Okay here they are the finished Dorothy shoes with the witch's socks. I will wear both of them to the show to represent for each side. I actually always root for the witch because Dorothy is such a goody goody. Not at all like Alice who was defiant and curious and just a little mad. I do like Dorothy for some things though. Mostly I think its the shoes and the dog.

Dorothy is coming to town

Well the time is finally here and I am getting ready for the Wizard of Oz show in July. I plan to wear jeans and a cool black tank top and these shoes!
I am glittering them and here is the start of the glitter process.
I also am, among many things, doing a wall of floating houses featuring a scared and confused dorothy, and of course the bicycle riding witch.
I will post more pieces as they get finished.

look! brocoli!

Is this not the cutest picture ever?
This is our first of many brocoli that we started a couple of months ago. We ate it in a fresh spinach salad with grapes, snap peas, chicken, cheese, peanuts and to top it off ranch dressing of course! It was tender and delicious!

Blooming

Here is the camilla I featured earlier this spring that had bud on it. Isn't it glorious? Isn't spring the best time ever?
I am amazed at the fact that I used to secretly laugh at my friends and family who spent hours in their gardens thinking to my self, "what a waste of time." And now half of me and Will's convesation is about flowers, trees and the veges that are spurting up so quickly. I won't even get into the fact that I am a closet bird watcher and can be caught exclaiming at any point, " look at that bluebird! or I wonder what those vultures are circling?"
Who knows what other surprises I have in store for myself.

My newest

So today was mom and dad's drawing class and they did so good! We started with color washes in ink. We put color where we thought the objects would go. And then with pecil or india ink we started with one of the objects and put it in relation to all the other objects. Ultimately finding how wrong our first impressions of how things look really is. This technique also is very freeing because everything always ends up outside the lines.

Dad's Newest

Mom's Newest!

First Harvest

These little buggers are the first things to come out of the garden this season. ( We have had tomatoes from the front yard....which apparently is like having a old buick stacked up on cement blocks according to a neighbor of mine..i.e....we are rednecks...) Anyway, AREN'T THEY CUTE!
We have about 92,000 radishes all ready to eat and guess what, I hate radishi. They are so bitter and taste a little like dirt. What else can you do with them? I'm thinking about picking them all and getting some pretty ribbon to tie them into bunches. And then plopping them down on the neighbors stoops as a spring present. There has to be someone out there who likes to actually eat them.