WIP and the last week with Nick!

This is been the hardest week, my energy level was dwindling and Nick was not being cooperative with quiet and nap times. I got a little stitching done, a piece I am making for myself. It is called Summer Sun by Kathy Schmitz. One of the patterns I got with my winnings. I got the full set so I can make one for each season.

I am doing it in multi colors but keeping it simple, 3 shades of green mixed with black, red, yellow and maybe blue birds. I will use brown for the posts, so most of the colors will be duller, but a pop of color, here and there.

We had more rain than sun this week, which didn't make it easy, but we were able to get out a bit when the rain stopped. Nick loves his new squirt gun and Bean loves it too.

The jacuzzi is covered by a tent house, so we got some fun in the "Pool". I bought the raft, last year so it was perfect for some play in the water.

Yesterday we tried crafting. Nick doesn't have a lot of patience but he loved cutting paper. The kid's scissors were too large for his hands, so I let him use my paper cutter, he loved using that.

We made a mosaic fish. I printed out the fish on card stock and cut it out for him. Then we glued on scraps of paper and a googly eye. It is such a joy to see his joy at creating something.

Today was another busy day, I needed to clean, so I do clean areas that won't get dirty again and then finish when they leave. Nick wanted to help, and he loves using the battery vacuum, he actually cleaned enough to empty two times, quite the helper.

 We also had some target practice. I printed out some turkeys and set them on a few boxes and Nick got to shoot them off with her nerf gun, he loved that. The problem was, Bean always wanted to play and kept grabbing them and chewing them up, so we gave up on that idea.

So, that was my exciting week. Now back to trying to get caught up and working on my projects, especially my painting class. I have been watching the videos and will finish the small one and do the actual class with the larger one and hopefully do a nicer job. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend we had the annual art and craft fair in Scituate. It is a wonderful fair in an older town, with hundreds of vendors, artists and crafters. It is nice to have a mix of arts and antiques and a nice place to just walk around and enjoy outdoor shopping.

The bad thing is, it was crowded, there is parking along the outer streets so parking there means walking a mile to get to the fair so we looked for a parking area. We found one right at the edge of the fair and had openings when we came in, but they charged 20.00, ouch.

The big thing I go for is to visit the Doll Maker, she also sells at the antique barn, we visit and I have been getting a mouse for each season. At the shows she has more variety and she was nice enough to hold a few that I really wanted. I also couldn't resist a cute snowman made by the woman next to her, who also makes hand made baskets, Baskets by Claudia. I wish I had gotten more snowmen, I know a few people who would love them and she only charges 12.00 for them, a great deal, I think.

She held the mice for me, the kitty on the pumpkin was another piece I couldn't resist. The snowman was made by Claudia, she makes small items to sell along with her baskets.

Sunday was a rainy day, and I didn't get much done around the house, we were lazy and watched movies from the free preview weekend;)

Today was a beautiful day, a bit windy but that kept the heat away, perfect for a ride in the country and some hiking.

We headed to Connecticut and took the fast way, so we could have more time at our destinations. The first stop was the Natchaug Forest. We enjoyed a walk around part of the pond, but it was rough terrain and rough on the knees, so we didn't get to do the full hike. The views were beautiful and the leaves are just turning enough to give pops of color to the area.

The second stop was down the road to Mansfield Hollow. It is a larger lake so we enjoyed the lake and headed to the dam. The last time we went, we could not find the dam, this time I knew how to get there.

We stopped at the bottom next to the mill and enjoyed the falls. Bean loves water and had to get in and check it out.

This is looking down the river, beautiful colors lined the banks.

We climbed up the stairs to the dam and it was windy as heck, so hard to take photos. This is a view of the mill, I had to lean on the gate to keep from blowing over.

They had an area on the other side to walk and enjoy the river. There was a beach area where Bean could go off leash and enjoy some play time, he was happy. Some beautiful foliage along the pathway.

It was fun re-exploring these places and having the time to stay and enjoy more of the areas. The bad thing was, the colors weren't as vibrant as they predicted for the area. The good thing is, we still have time to explore more places and enjoy the foliage.

We headed home and since we had the time, we took a short detour to the apple orchards. I got a smaller bag so I can get more fresh ones next week, I love eating fresh apples. They were also selling pumpkins and had activities for the kids, maybe we can bring Nick, next time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and those who were in the storm's path, spared the devastation.

Needle Felting and Bad Dye Job!

I have been taking it easy, not easy for me, I hate sitting still so much but I know I need to rest my back so it can heal. I am able to move more since I got it snapped, so now it is just a matter of building up my strength without hurting it again. I appreciate all the kind comments and concern from all of you.

I wanted to try a new felted piece so I took a design from my Laurel Burch book, Legends. I love this design and plan on making the quilted wall hanging, I think it will look nice over my painting area in the new room, a bit of ocean and a bit of art.

I used a white wool that I got from joannes, I think it was a thick wool felt, but feels more like a batting since it is spongy, but perfect for felting on. I had to trace the design with large black marker and even then I could only see some lines, but I got the general layout and added the rest myself.

This is the base, I have some tweaking to do and adding more fiber and colors for variation, then I plan on wet felting it, then adding decorative stitching for detail on the wings and other areas. I am hoping to make it into a bag or maybe a sewing case, will see how it comes out, how it shrinks up and what I am in the mood for, when it is finished. I definitely need more colors in my roving stash.

I wanted to use a dark red for the background, as in the original quilt but I did not have any dark red that worked, so, I went with black. There is a think layer on and I will add some blues and pops of colors as I go. Soooooo..... I decided to do some dying today. Dying should not be done in a rush, I used white wool and made up a dark red bath but it came out more like light purple gray, maybe a future animal. I also threw in some bright red and that came out nice, hard to see in a photo but it is dark with lighter hints, so a nice variation and will be nice for a santa suit. I need to get out my dye books and find some good dark reds and also just variations, will be good for Christmas pieces.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be working on my new piece, and hopefully getting out a bit to explore.

Dog days of summer?

It is hot in Rhode Island and what better way to spend the day then to lounge around on mom's chaise lounge. I need to save up my energy so I can find ways to harass mom and my brother Casey. 

Well, being silly is what we do when it is hot and our brains are mush. I decided to start a blog on google, so this is my first post to test it out.