Friday Finishes!

 I finally finished my pillow. It was a large design, so lots of stitching. It is 36" long and I love being able to have it done and displayed on the back of the couch. The design is by Bird Brain Designs.

I also finished a piece that has been sitting in a box, way too long. It is a gift I made for a friend and this is the year, she will finally get it. This is a design by Kathy Schmitz.

Last weekend we went to the seaport to see the Mayflower. It came from Massachusetts to have some repairs done at the seaport. She is docked for now, but they have a large dry dock to put her on.

We walked around the village and saw the decorations on the buildings.

And the old Mercantile.

We also got to see the Garda. Last time it was in a spot, we couldn't see it.

And the fascinating story behind her.

Another building we were able to access was the museum. This is one of the examples of the glass models. Some are so realistic, you cannot tell the difference. These were done in the 1800's.

I hope you all had a nice week and are enjoying the holiday season. We have gotten most things done, so I can enjoy it more without the stress. I still have to do up cards and a few gifts that are going out.

Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice holiday. We had dinner with the kids, but we were all sick, so had a nice dinner and spent a little time together. The kids all wore masks and I wore mine when we sat together, but I am sure we all got the same one, since they are the only ones I spend time with. 

I got a new set of templates so I could try some bowl cozies. I got them on eBay, a cheaper set and it came with quite a few sizes, so I can make late ones for the table and smaller ones for bowls that come out of the microwave.

These are what they look like. They are not as thick and hard as regular rulers, but strong enough to do the job and a lot less than the name brands.

I made a large cozy to test them out, perfect for my large dish on Thanksgiving. It is a fun way to decorate the table, as well. I have plenty of fun Christmas fabrics that I can make, so I will work on those this month.

The boys made me some birthday presents. Nick has been collecting glass with me and they used what they had found. I love them and have a place to hang them, so that was a nice surprise.

At home, the birds have been busy at the feeder. A lot of the winter birds are coming back and new ones from nesting season, so it is busier than usual. The female Cardinal was kind enough to sit still for a photo.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and are blessed with good health. Lots of flu's going around this year.

Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice week. I have been enjoying the cooler autumn days and it seems I have more energy without the heat. This week is our church yard sale, so I was able to clean up a bit and help out with that. I also made a new stitchery, from Kathy Schmitz's Stitch Club.

I reduced it a little and made a lavender sachet. Gift giving season is right around the corner and I like having smalls to add to the boxes. I did make mine simpler, basic stitching and coloring with pencils, but I do like how it came out.

Our weekend wanderings were closer to home. We drove up to the northern end of our state and then into Connecticut, lots of stops along the way and some nice views. This is a few shots from Pulaski State Park in Rhode Island. With all the rain we have had this year, the waterfalls are running nicely again.

We drove across into Connecticut to visit the Thompson Dam and then into Putnam to see the falls. The park had some nice displays along the walkways.

A few views around the park at the falls.

On the way home we took a side road, which has several farms and views of the valley below. 

And even though we didn't get to go out with the boys, I got to see them in their costumes. 

And of course a few days at the beach this week. Now that it is getting darker earlier, we can only walk for  an hour, before it gets dark. I was still able to find a few nice pieces, yesterday.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Hopefully we can get out for a new adventure this weekend.

Friday Finishes!

I hope everyone faired well during the recent storms. We got hit with a lot of rain and wind, but so far our power has stayed on.

This week I made a couple of items. I got a book from a thrift store and wanted to make the flag pattern. The book is Handmade in the USA by Kindred Spirits. My original idea was to mount the piece on wood, but I didn't have any good wood so I decided to try it on a canvas frame. I used various vintage papers for the background, but thought it needed to be toned down, and basically, I ended up painting over it and then I did some stenciled stars.

First I antiqued the canvas, then I antiqued the flag and once it was dry, I attached it with a decoupage medium. It worked great, the flag lay flat and it is hardened into the background. The problem was, I had used a little of the black stain for antiquing and the medium made that run throughout the piece. The flag came out too dark and the background lighter, so not the look I was going for. I think another problem was, I rushed to get it all together and should have given the piece, a day to dry thoroughly.

I had to lighten it up, so you could see how the flag looks, so the stars are lighter than the actual piece, as well.

Another piece is a lavender sachet, using Kathy Schmitz's newest pattern, from the stitch club. I have a lot of items in boxes, so I can always use more sachets, though this one is so pretty, it is a shame to hide it.

Last weekend we got out for rides, but no eagles. Of course I found some new, old graveyards and a wonderful old church that will be perfect for an art piece or maybe a new punch needle pattern. I do not show photos of items I will be using in art, but I took a few of the unique graveyards.

And the only bird that I could capture this week was a turkey vulture. I thought it was the hawks at first, but this is what I got a shot of.  It was good practice with the new lens, I wasn't sure if I could get good shots of birds in the air and this guy was also far away, so I am pleased with the results. The good thing about getting a better quality lens is that you can get a better result when editing the photo.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and find your own adventures.

Friday Finishes!

This week I worked on an art piece. Something I have been wanting to try and practice a few techniques on. I decided to go with a small 5" x 7" canvas board. I used a new product, Liquitex matte medium. It went on a lot easier and nicer than the heavy gel, but I noticed bleeding right away.

The end result for my transfer was a bit more faded than the usual, but I did use plain copy paper and a design from one of my photos, that I put through an art filter. So, it wasn't that bold to begin with and gave me the effect I wanted as a background image. Once I cleaned off the paper, most of the red went away, so I was happy with that, as well.

This is how it looked, I did enhance the buildings with colored pencils.

I decided to further enhance some details by painting over the buildings and some of the surf. Then I started playing with things I had in my beach finds. First was the driftwood log, then I found a rock that looked like a body with an arm and some shapes and rocks that I liked and it became a little scene of me at the beach. I used wool for the hat and gloves, small pieces of glass and a shell. It was fun to do and when done, I added glass gel beads to the sand and under the boats. The boats are also my photos, I printed them out and cut out the boats.

I also finished my rug, I decided to stop since I was running out of the dark blue and truthfully, it is hard on my arm and slow going. It is 36" x 26" and I decided to put it at the top of the stairs. I gives a nice pop of color in a dark area and Bean can lie on it when he is waiting for us to get home.

This was done with precut wool, that someone had given me. It is a bit thinner than I usually work with, so the next one I will do in thicker coat weights.

And of course we went beach hunting last weekend. I am trying to keep from over doing it and making sure I get some straight walking in, great exercise and gives my back a rest. We found some nice pieces on Saturday.

And Sunday we got a bit more. I will definitely be making more mixed media art and using some of the fun pieces I find, as well as the glass.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Change of Plans!

My husband was given two weeks for recovery before he went back to work. Originally we had planned on taking our anniversary trip this coming week, but I cancelled it. At the time we had no idea what would happen and I had to make a decision so I didn't lose my down payment.

The other day his supervisor calls to see if he was planning on coming back or still taking his vacation since it was already planned and they did have a replacement. So, now our vacation is back on and no place to go. We have done stay at home vacations and those are fun, but when we came back from the beach yesterday, I checked the campground and not only did they have an opening, but on the spot we have always wanted and it is never available. I took that as a sign that we should go camping.

This is the campground near the ocean. The bad thing is no dogs on the regular beaches, but there is one that is dog friendly. This is a photo from April, so it looks dismal without the trees in bloom, but that is our little trailer to the left and the new site with the arrow. It is a huge space and no neighbors close by, so great for Bean too. It will be a nice place to just relax and enjoy the views of the inlet.

Of course we got to enjoy some beach time this week. Yesterday we found a nice batch of treasures and not too many people on the beach.

Today it was rainy, but we took a chance and went down to shop and then hit the beach. The rain stayed away and we got a little drizzle, but it was a nice day to just walk on the beach and no one was around, so I was finding glass, laying on the beach. It was nice just walking and not bending so much. We will be camping on Monday, so I may post some photos later in the week, it will all depend on what day we come back. I am still working with a neighbor who might watch the kitties, otherwise we will have to come back to feed them and clean up the litter.

I have been getting lots of ideas for my glass and pebbles, so after a ( hopefully) stress free week, I can get back into creating again. I will bring my art supplies too, so maybe I can do a new summer freebie for everyone.

Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, mothers day can be bittersweet for so many of us. My son and family came over on Saturday, and of course we cooked for them. He doesn't quite get the concept of the holiday, haha. They did bring me some flowers to plant in my garden, so that was nice, and of course spending time with the boys, is always fun.

We spent the day shopping and had no luck and since we had some free time in the afternoon, we took a trip to the beach. The tide was almost in, but we still found some treasures on the beach.

On Sunday we went back, one more time. Camping starts next week, so the park will be open, but you have to pay to get in, so I doubt we will be back, until the fall. It was cloudy and cooler, but a great day for searching, since we hit the tide as it was going out.

Of course Bean loves it when we go to the beach. It is his favorite place and he can go off leash if there are no people around. He is fine with other dogs, but he wants to jump on everyone he sees and not everyone he sees, wants to be jumped on. He spends his time staring at us, until we throw a rock, then he pushes it across the beach, until he hits the water. Then he is back, until we throw another. He is easily amused.

Today was cleaning and catch up, a little bit of sewing on the baby quilt. Hopefully I will find time to get my canvases ready for painting and maybe some beach art.

Friday Finish!

This week, a few new patterns were uploaded on Cheri's facebook page. Even though she is no longer with us, she has given permission for others to keep the group going. I saw this pattern and knew I had to do it for the boys.

I changed it a little to make two boys, one was a girl. Then I put their names above the boy, that depicts them. Alex who is the happy, smiley boy and Nick who is always giving me that smart alec smirk.

I used Bills jeans and the green shirting is from their dad's old shirt, when he was younger, so it is a memory pillow, as well. The finished size is 7" x 11".

We also did some beach combing this week. We didn't get the full tides, but still found lots of treasures. The ones on the right are from our local dog beach, lots of craft glass, but some nice sea glass too. The ones on the left are from the island, a lot of smaller pieces but a few large ones.

I was able to find some tiny bits of glass, to finish my Love piece. It isn't what I imagined, so I will try some on wood, next. I like the way I can age wood, hard to do on canvas and this was a small one,  only 4". I realized that the glass shifted a bit and went off the line, the result of moving it too soon. It was good practice and I wanted to see how tacky glue would work, which was great for this project. I also sprayed a high gloss over the piece.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It is a holiday I avoid, so I am hoping the rain doesn't last and we can get out for some walks on the beach.

Monday Works and Wanderings!

This weekend I was able to get some more of my quilt done. I am doing a simple black stitching around the edges and in the larger solid blocks, I was thinking of adding a stitched heart in the middle. Then to attach the back, I will do a tack in the middle of each heart.

I might just stick with a simple border stitch on the outer borders. It is not a the best quilt, as you can see by the crooked piecing, so I don't want to spend too much time on fancy stitching.

This weekend we got out for some beach time. The tide was higher, but it was going down, so we were able to enjoy walking on the beach and watching the seagulls fight for food. This guy wasn't going to share his dinner with anyone, and swallowed the whole fish.

Even though the tide was higher, it was down enough to find glass. We walked to the far end where it is rocky and found a few nice pieces, then on the way back, we searched on the newly exposed areas and found more. This beach had some nice pieces of pottery, as well.

Sunday was a cloudy day with predicted rain. I decided it was worth going to the beach, even if we could only spend an hour, I just feel so much better at the ocean. The tide was higher so we dug in the piles of stones and found quite a few nice pieces.

I circled one stone, at least it looks like a stone, but something made me keep it. When you put a light under it, it is green. You never know with older, thick glass. It is so dark it looks like a stone, but one indicator for me is, when it starts drying, it gets the salt specks on it. I am glad I didn't throw it back.

I also collected some tiny bits to put in my wave. Some stones go into the garden pile. When I find things, I can't always tell how they really look until they dry, especially the white stones. I think I need to bring a flashlight with me, for next time, I could be passing up old glass and not know it. And I think I need to get more glass jars to store all my treasures;)

Weekend finish and finds!

We were supposed to be camping this weekend, but it was windy and cold yesterday and today we got rain and wind, so I cancelled this trip. Hopefully the next one will bring us better weather, not fun to camp if I am stuck in the trailer all day.

I wanted to try some wool starfish and I love how they came out, but I couldn't get a decent photo, you can never get the look with wool and floss, especially with flash. I modeled them after real starfish and the actually colors, and I had the perfect lime green in my thrift stash.

I added a little stuffing and used a colored blanket stitch to mimic the border color on the starfish. They are easy to do and would make fun bowl fillers too. You can just draw out the starfish by hand or use a coloring book template, then have fun with the colors or look at real starfish online.

On Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather. I was surprised that there weren't that many people at the beach, but that means more glass for me, lol. We hit the tide just right and even when it goes out, the waves come up at different heights and crash against the slopes, and drop glass off. I was able to walk up and down a section and catch glass as it was swept up, so I got a nice haul this time. Bill was too lazy to bend, so he sat in the rock piles and dug for glass, he found me the pink heart. Some of the larger pieces are around 3", so you can tell what sizes they are.

My big find was the round one in front, that is a cobalt blue glass, a rarer find. We also did some shopping and I got a plastic container with compartments, so I am putting some glass by types, then I can bring it upstairs and play with design ideas. Another great find this week was a large white, rusty pail, with a blue lip, the perfect garbage can for my beach room.

Friday Finish!

I hope everyone is safe and warm at home, with the weather that is hitting the east coast. We have horrible winds, my grill went flying across the porch and later I saw our wheelbarrow go up and over, so a good day to stay in. I decided to post early, just in case the power goes out, so far, so good.

With the nicer weather, I decided it was time to start painting rocks. I love leaving a few when we go out for walks. This time I made some simple bunnies. I like doing designs that make people smile and I am hoping, these will do the trick. I don't have as much control with my arm, but I didn't do too bad with that and my blurry vision, lol. If you would like to join in on leaving rocks or art items for others to find and spread the smiles, you can visit my group on Facebook, DSmiles4miles.

It doesn't have to be items that you leave anonymously, you can also bring smiles to those in nursing homes or hospitals with a gift of time.

We did have some wonderful weather this week, perfect for getting out to the local beaches and beach combing. The first day I found the most, I guess no one has been on the dog beach all winter.The large green piece on the bottom is the bottom part of a bottle bottom, our biggest find yet.

Of course Bean loved getting out and he even found a new friend. Someone as hyper as he is.
Have a wonderful weekend!

New Project!

I wanted to try the stockings in a smaller size and make a quilt for me, with all stocking blocks. I reduced the design to 9" x 7" and modified the stocking slightly to make it simpler and a bit wider. I am using scraps and homespuns from my stash and all black for the block backs, which is also a homespun style, something like linen.

I am thinking of using a red that is in the same line, as sashing for the blocks, I think that will set it off nicely, then I can do a black binding. I just wanted something simple to make for fun that I can use next year and a great way to use up some of my stash.

This weekend wasn't very nice, too cold on Saturday to stay outside for more than a few minutes. On Sunday we had rain in the forecast, but not till later in the day, so we headed to the beach. It was so nice to walk on the beach and no one else around. Then it started to sprinkle, then rain which was more like ice, so we had to give up. I was disappointed since we hit the tide as it was going out, a perfect time to walk up and down the beach, and look for treasures.

We did find some glass and I grabbed lots of small rocks to play with, so hopefully I can make something this week, for my room.

Beach Combing for Art!

This weekend was warmer but it was windy, so beach combing wasn't as easy. The tide was also out earlier, so we go there as it was coming back in, but still lots of shoreline to explore. I got a nice amount of glass and some stones, so building up my stash of glass, a bit at a time.

We got quite a few large pieces this time, the large heart rock is 3" wide, to give you a perspective. The heart will be painted and hidden, hoping to finish a few to hide before Valentines.

The wind got so bad, I decided to give up, since the wind was blowing the waves back in, higher than normal. Another reason to go to this beach was, to go to the lighthouse to watch the moon rise. It was daytime, but I just wanted to see what it would look like as it rose above Newport. We waited over a half hour and no moon, the fog took over, so I gave up. I found a spot on a cliff side, with a rock ledge to protect me from the wind. At least I got to enjoy some relax time while enjoying the views.

Sunday was a rainy day so we decided to go shopping. I hit the jackpot this time, I found a motorized, ride on firetruck that blows bubbles marked down to 15.00 dollars. Alex will love it and I will save it for his Birthday. I also got myself some art supplies, so I can start painting more angels and other items. Luckily the rain stopped when we got down the Watch Hill, but it was definitely foggy.

The boardwalk is desolate in the winter, but it is so calm and peaceful when it is shrouded by the fog.

We enjoyed a ride around the ocean loop and came out to Atlantic Beach, a long strip of beaches, hotels and amusements, but nice and quiet in the winter. This is a beach that has high banks, so the rocks get thrown up and tumbled, so there are a lot of smaller, smooth stones, which is just what I was looking for.

We found a nice amount but gave up with the rising tide. I was looking for stones that I can use as heads and bodies and as you can see from the photos, this is why I am collecting them. I have seen pebble art in the stores and they charge a fortune. The rocks are free and what you can make is only limited by your imagination. It is like a puzzle, you just play with them and see what you can make. You can also go online and look up beach, pebble, art and you will find lots of wonderful pieces to inspire you.

I was just playing around, I want to try a bird piece and something simple to start with. I like the idea of painting the background with watercolor and adding a quote or word to the upper corner. I played in photoshop to see who it would look, and like the color better. I also want to use a small piece of glass for his beak and maybe wire legs, still playing and thinking.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and remember, even in the gloomiest days, you can find joy and creativity in the simplest of things.