Christmas Blur

Why do I stress myself out every Christmas? Over the years I have let go of many of the things that I used to do this time of year. I don't bake cookies, I don't send cards, I don't try to hand make every present. Why am I still stressed? This year may be because I had to drive each of my children out to Dulles airport, on separate days, for their flights to Germany to be with their Dad and his family. I am so happy they are able to go, but driving in the DC area is bad enough, and during the holiday....whew! Tonight I drive out there again for my flight to San Diego. My Mom has not been well lately and I decided on a last minute trip for Christmas. I will spend it with her, my sister and my brother. I am looking forward to enjoying some time with all of them.

My stress also increased due to some work problems, and worry over my son's back pain. Also, when I get busy, I let go of my yoga and meditation practice and I don't walk or exercise as often. Doing these things help me to maintain a better balance when outside stressors influence me. So, why do I let these activities go when I get busy? Very good question.

New Year's Resolution: Take care of myself first by exercising, doing yoga and meditating, before I do all of the "must/should do's". Ahhh....I feel myself relaxing already.....

On the positive side of the holiday, I celebrated Christmas with my children last Saturday and we had a lovely day. Here is my son in his new shirt and tie.


And, this is the Brioche Stitch Scarf that I knit my daughter. Note the University of Maryland colors. Due to the popularity of this pattern at the shop, I will be teaching a Brioche Stitch Scarf class at A Tangled Skein, in Hyattsville, Maryland, in January. I am going to play with some other color combinations before the class.


Two weeks ago we had some snow and my daughter (who is participating in the Gymkana program at UMD) had some fun in the snow. In the first photo she is balancing only on her hands on the school terrapin mascot. In the second she is doing a headstand on the ice.




Merry Christmas to everyone and may your Christmas be filled with love, peace and joy. Take a deep breath..........and relax.

Fiber Cupcakes

These are wheat-free, dairy free, sugar free, calorie free, luscious cupcakes. Hand spun wool and silk and wool unspun fiber are so much healthier than traditional cupcakes! (Although, maybe not at tasty.) I found this dessert stand at World Market, and knew I had to use it to create a fanciful display. The cups are unused ice cream cups I bought on Ebay ages ago. I knew I would find a use for them one day. The mini-skeins are hand spun samples I make when I try out a new fiber, or spin on a small spindle.

Enjoy!

Ocean Springs

I arrived yesterday morning in Gulf Port, Mississippi in the midst of a rainstorm. It was coming down like an overflowing bath tub from above, and deep puddles had already formed in the car rental lot. I love rain, but yesterday was my only afternoon to explore the area. Luckily, it lessened to a drizzle by afternoon and I was able to get over to Ocean Springs.

I spent a lovely afternoon with a friend, driving around the area together. After lunch at a yummy Chinese Buffet with everything from eggrolls and Schezwan green beans to macaroni and cheese and tapioca, we headed over to Ocean Springs. We found a sweet little downtown lined with Live Oaks. At the center, we discovered a vintage drug store complete with soda fountain.


Please note that this was a very clean establishment, but I am still enamored of the blending overlays created by Cottage Arts. (See previous posts) I am really enjoying playing with these overlays and the vintage quality they give my photos.

The town has several art galleries and we enjoyed wandering around one filled with intricately hand-crafted glass art.

Later, we drove over to the Gulf Islands National Seashore Visitor Center at the Davis Bayou. It was gorgeous looking out at the drizzly marshes. The film about the Gulf Islands detailed their shifting history and variety of wild life including the Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Apparently, only one out of a thousand sea turtles make it to adulthood. Most are eaten by other creatures, who especially like the eggs.

I had a great time and very nice company. The rest of this week I am in a meeting with a fantastic group of people. Intense, but good. Sometimes, it is nice to work for the government...

Briar Rose Orange Scarf

I finished the scarf from the beautiful shades of orange yarn, that I spun from around 6 ounces of Briar Rose Fibers Blue Faced Leicester wool. (See the yarn hanging to dry in the post from October 29.)

I cast on 68 stitches and did a 2x2 rib (knit 2, purl 2), slipping the first stitch of each row. Then I knit two together across the row to get 34 stitches and continued in a 1x1 rib (knit 1, purl 1). Towards the end, I increased (lift the thread between two stitches from the previous row and knit or purl, to keep in pattern, into the back of the stitch). I love hand spun yarn in a rib pattern- it is soft, bouncy, and squishy.

This week, I also make a card for a friend's birthday. I used cardboard as my substrate, prints of vintage photos, a page from a 1887 almanac, a page from a French language book, tissue paper, decorative paper, Golden soft gel as an adhesive, acrylic paint, Pan pastels, Adirondack Ink (tea dye) Smooch Spritz (red) and stencil, black ink, white gel pen, copic pens, stamp with Staz-on black ink, rub-on letters, and acrylic sealer. I am working on layering vintage papers and photos while still retaining their beautiful qualities. I did not want to cover much of the almanac page, since it had so much interesting information on it.

Remington 5 Typewriter

I fell in love. With a typewriter. Strange, I know, but, take a look.



A month ago I decided that I wanted a manual typewriter. I love the quality of typed text, and, although I knew I could get typewriter fonts for Word, I wanted the real thing. I started checking out different eras of typewriter innovations. I have always been seduced by the design aesthetics of the 1930s, so when I found the Remington 5, I was smitten. It is described as the "streamline", named after this style of the 30s, with smooth, round edges,and deco lettering. (There is actually a Remington Streamliner, which is different). I participated in some bidding wars on eBay and lost, until I found this one. It was destiny....



Some people dismantle these for the keys. While I like typewriter key jewelry, it is tragic to salvage the keys and throw away such a beauty.

We are developing our relationship, as I practice typing out fictional letters. My Remington 5 works very well. I was able to find new ribbon in original cartridges, so I may type all I want. It requires quite a bit of finger strength. I don't know how writers typed out their novels on these old manual typewriters, but I love the sound and the feel.

One more photo of my vintage beauty....



Photo uses Cottage Arts Photo Blend 2-1

Playing with Layers

I am trying to learn how to create more texture in my photos by adding edges and layers. I went to a site called Cottage Arts, and purchased some interesting layers called "blends" to add to my photos. My goal is to make my photos look like they are photo transfers. I want nice edges and textures that give a vintage feel. I purchased some layers and have been playing with them in Photoshop Elements.

Here is a before using a photo of green onions from the Farmer's Market in Boulder, Colorado:
















And here is the after, which includes Image number 10 from Photo Arts Blends 2:
















Here is an example using a lighter photo to begin with, this is a doorway in Charleston, SC:






















And here is the one with a Blend number 13 from the same set:






I am going to be experimenting much more with these types of layers. It is fun to see the possibilities in using these layers not only for my blog posts, but also in my collage work.

Why Orange?

I am very excited to be starting my new blog which combines many of my interests in one blog. I have had an intermittent blog on my fiber addiction (spinning and knitting) and I have a couple of other blogs (see here and here), but I really wanted an outlet for all of my artistic endeavors.

Why Dreaming in Orange? I love orange. If asked, green is actually my favorite color -- sea-green, lime-green, moss-green -- these are the colors that I am most often drawn to in yarns and paint.

But, orange is the color of joy, happiness, light, silliness. Orange is a symbol of autumn, my favorite season. The time of year that I see as new beginnings (too many years spent in school I suspect). "Dreaming in Orange" means to me dreaming of new beginnings grounded in joy and a certain light-heartedness. This is what I want for my blog and for my life.

So here is the gratuitous picture in orange:


It is my hand spun BFL (Blue Faced Leicester)wool yarn that I will knit into a scarf. It is two-plied and about 342 yards for those to whom this matters. Here is another photo of it hanging to dry outside.



This blog is a new forum to me to explore the many aspects of my life including my spinning and knitting obsessions; my drawing, painting and collage art; and photos from my daily life and my travels. I intend to explore my world and myself through these pages. I hope you enjoy traveling along with me.