Kids Stuff

Remember in a post a couple back I told you I had made a little purse for my visiting friend's daughter? Evidently Jasmin loved it! He sent me this photo above, showing her wearing it. Below is the purse. I'm glad I didn't make it too big because it looks pretty big on her.  Jasmin and her brother Eden Kai are both performers in song, dance and also acting.  They have their own YouTube channel if you want to check them out: http://www.youtube.com/user/genkivision  They are very talented and I won't be surprised to see them both as big stars some day.  You can say you heard of them first here!

I got an order for one of my big Janbags from a cousin. She wanted to give it to her niece who just had a baby. It will be used as a diaper bag for now.

I have given a lot of these bags away and everyone loves them. They hold so much and they are reversible.  (thanks for the bunny fabric, Anne!)

Here is the reverse side.

I was happy to see I got a couple of new followers. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I will try to begin posting more frequently again, now that summer is winding down.  Thanks for sticking around.

Be well.

Cow Clubhouse

The 4-H steers have taken over the neighbor boys "fort".

Summer has finally arrived here in NW Oregon and already fall is in the air. I'll take whatever I can get of the sun. Looks like these black steers prefer the shade.

Be well.

Pets on Quilts

 I would like to submit these small fiber art pieces to the Pets on Quilts online show.  You can see the details here:  http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/08/welcome-to-2011-pets-on-quilts-show.html

Thanks to Karen S over at A Creative Kick who has also entered some art work for encouraging me to enter this show.  There are prizes to be awarded, so if you feel like voting for me or for Karen, or for anyone, jump on over and do so on August 20th and 21st.

The first quilt above is one I did of my llama and I gifted it to the friend who gave me the llama.  I used all my own hand dyes to create this small wall hanging.  The llamas name is Surprise and I also named the art piece Surprise.  Still have Surprise, still have the friend, but unfortunately the friends house burned down and so did this quilt.

Next is my small fiber art piece that is a portrait of my dog Rocky.  Rocky is a Pit Bull and a sweetheart.  I have never known a dog that all other dogs and most cats seem to like so well.  I never have to worry about fights when introducing Rocky to other dogs, he is so calm and laid back (rather like me) that no one is intimidated by him.  He is my sweet Rock.

Last but not least is my hand embroidered portrait of a most mischievous cat, Simone.  Simone is gone now but her memory lives on in more than just this portrait.  I altered a photo and printed it on fabric, then stitched over it with embroidery floss to create this one. 

Please go take a look at the other offering for this fun little show and don't forget to vote for your favorites this weekend!

Be well.

Summer Dreams

Summer Dreams
Dooleybobber #16
11inches by 9 inches

I started this needle felted piece back when our summer temperatures were in the 50's and low 60's and I was dreaming of summers past.  It has finally warmed up into the 70's and feels a bit more like summer.

I've had a lot of company lately and have been slowly hand stitching on this piece while trying to pay attention to these other people.  The company is gone and this piece is mostly finished. Still needs to be mounted or at least backed.

I used some silk flowers, stitched down with beads and threads.  I just love these colors together!

Sari silk fibers, I think I got this piece in the spiral from Corrine over at Dosfishes.

Small brass charm.  Sweet little flowers.

My most recent company just left this morning.  He is Chainsaw man's friend from college who lives in Japan now.  He has been suffering from severe stress, taking care of his family while living with near daily earth shaking and all the other consequences.  His family in Oregon bought him a ticket so he could come here and decompress for a few days.  He chose to spend much of his time out here on the farm, "the sanctuary" he calls it, listening to the silence.  His 8 year old daughter requested me to make her a little purse, she had very specific instructions.  It was to be white with sparkles, a strap handle and a pink bow attached.  I came up with this little thing, made from some home decorating type fabric that I embellished with white and silver fibers, stitched on some sequins, made a ribbon strap and searched around for a pink bow.  I don't normally do pink, but managed to find one I had salvaged off a package of Easter candy.  That is why we keep all these odd bits, you  never know when we might need them.

Here is our friend.  As you can see, he appears pretty relaxed with a glass of our blackberry cordial.  It was good to see this place through his eyes, he was so grateful to be here and to have solid ground under his feet.

 He brought me these Japanese fabrics as a gift.  Charlie is gazing raptly at them while holding down my next dooleybobber.  Yeah, it's under him there somewhere.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer.  Be well.

Busy summertime

Sorry for my long silence.  Summer gets pretty busy here on the farm.  We are in the midst of hay season which is late this year due to the weather.  If you are interested in seeing a bit of that process you can take a look at my post about it from last year, Hay Season.

The hay is in the barn, finally.  You can see Powder guarding the stash.  Now maybe I can get back to some art work.

I bought these old books at a thrift store, thinking I might alter them.  A dollar for all 4 of them, what a deal!

They are pretty cool but one is so old, I can't bear to do anything but preserve it.

See that copyright date?  1892! 

 Cool old covers, embossed.  None of them published any later than the 1920's.

Here is one old book I hollowed out and decorated.  I might do more to it still.  I had bought some cool little metal corner embellishment thingies and I cannot find them.  I wanted to put them in these corners.  

I do hope to have some new art to show you in my next post.  I've slowly been stitching on another Dooleybobber.  Remember those?  Its been so long, I forgot myself what they are.  I hope you all are keeping your cool this summer, I know it has been hot in most other places.  I'm not the only one who hasn't been blogging a lot lately.  

Be well.