Goodbye, My Friend

Anne Huskey Lockard

A beautiful friend has lost her battle with cancer.   She leaves behind her husband Gary and many loving friends and family.  I met Anne online about 12 years ago and our friendship blossomed through emails and phone calls.  We never got a chance to meet in real life but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with having her gone.

 Gary, Anne and Dr. Salter

She fought long and hard against her disease and we all hoped she might be in the small percentage of survivors.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
I'd like to celebrate her life with this post.

Anne was many things, artist, poet, photographer, blogger, music lover, chef, gardener, nature lover, and she enjoyed a good glass of wine.  She loved to dress up in beautiful clothing and great shoes, her make up perfect.

But she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and tackle the roughest jobs either!

Anne and the Ramones quilt

She loved many genres of music but especially loved The Ramones and the Misfits and even created art in their honor.  Classic jazz was another favorite of hers.

She was well known to have an unquenchable desire for shoes and Doc Marten boots.  I wonder how many pair she owns?

This pair epitomizes many things Anne.

Occasionally she liked a softer style of footwear.

She loved her little parakeets and they brought much joy into her life.

Yes, Anne was a big fan of Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations.  You could count on her and husband Gary to always dress up for the trick or treaters.

Photography was another passion. Flowers and nature were especially favorite subjects.  I invite you all to go to Anne's blog, El Milagro Studio and review some of her posts.  She could always be counted on to share inspiration there.

Anne surely is saying this from the place she is now.  She is mourned and missed by many but will live on in our hearts.

You said it!!!!

This is one of my favorite photos of Anne.  In red, doing something she most loved, making art.

I miss our daily emails, our phone conversations.  I miss you, dear Anne.  I will hold my memories of you close and keep you forever in my heart, sister/friend.

Birthday gifts galore!

First I want to thank you all who gave me suggestions in my last post regarding what I might do with my Grandmothers coat.  What I have decided is to write a note telling the story about my Grandmother and the coat that hung in my closet for so many years and how it ended up being donated to a thrift store.  I will put it into the pocket of the coat.  My hope is that it will be better appreciated that way.  There is a local thrift store that benefits a woman shelter, I intend to take it there.

The photos above show a gift that I received in the mail last month.  My friend Maggi from the UK sent this to me, all hand dyed by herself.  Check out her web site if you want some similar items.  She remembered that it was my birthday and gifted me these things! 

There is a piece she worked on her embellisher machine, some gorgeous dyed silk chiffon, some beautiful matching threads and scrim, and two packages of beads.  It is like a whole kit to make a dooleybobber!!  So beautiful!  Thanks, Maggi!  I hope to do justice to these fine supplies one day soon.

Robin also remembered my birthday and sent me this stunning mandala card that she made.  It just amazes me that she can create these and each one is so different and so beautiful!

Here is a close up, isn't it gorgeous!?!!!  I love these colors and shall have to frame it.  She gifted me a large framed one last year when she came to visit me.

Another visitor who was here last year was Uta from Australia.  She returned this year and we decided to do a trade.  Above you can see the painting she gave me.  I love it!  She does fantastic work and has won awards for her paintings.  Check out her web site and expect to see more of her in the world of fine art.

In trade for the painting I gave her this quilt you can see her wrapped in above.  She loves it and has it on her bed in warm Adelaide Australia now.

Another trade I made with a friend who has no web presence  resulted in my receiving this fabulous sweater that my friend knit herself.  I'm certain it will become a favorite garment for many years to come.  So far it has been too warm to need to wear it but I of course put it on the minute I opened the package and found it to be the coziest thing even in the summer!  Just beautiful!  Thank you, Thalia, I treasure it.

In return I created this wall hanging for her, with her guidance as to its theme.  I blogged about it here.  It is titled Within the Stream.

Other gifts I received last month include this beach glass necklace from Uta and  newly published author Glenn when they came to visit me last month.  Beautiful, I love beach glass!

Elena sent me this book because she knows how much I am enjoying making books these days.  Some great ideas in here!  Thanks E!

I also received this book from another friend who has no web presence.  I love books, as anyone who follows my blog already knows.  Thanks Lyla!  

I have such lovely friends!

Well that's about it for now.  One of these days I'll see if I can't post something about the art I have been creating.  It has mostly been art journaling and bed/lap quilts.  Time to start getting ready for winter art work, I wonder what my focus will be?  Maybe I ought to start with a new dooleybobber using some of that gorgeous fabric Maggi sent me!  Until then, 

Be well.

Waning summer

Hello blogging friends! It has been nearly two months since my last confession, er, I mean my last blog post.  I was looking at my photos today and thought I'd share some of my flowers with you.  Above is a tiny bouquet of sweet peas.  Aren't they sweet?  Of course, it is their nature to be sweet.  They are flowering wonderfully right now outside the studio door along with nasturtiums and morning glories.  Every day I enjoy the wonderful scent of these beauties.  Summer flowers!

But what is this?  I found these flowering in my front yard, autumn crocuses! What is an autumn flower doing out now?  Yes my friends, it heralds the coming of autumn.  It was 82 here today, but already at 6pm it is 10 degrees cooler and will likely be another 15 cooler yet before morning.

 

 

 

 

I just love these deep red nasturtiums!

 

I haven't only been flower gazing all summer.  I managed to finish up the king size quilt in time to give it to my nephew and his bride a month ago.  Since then I made this quilt and mailed it off to a friend yesterday.

The backing fabric is so lovely and soft to the touch.

In addition to quilting, I have been continuing to purge my closets of unneeded items.  The coat above belonged to my Grandma Betty, who passed away in 1976.  I have held on to this garment all these years, not really knowing what to do with it.  I don't want to wear fur, even if it is only a collar that I didn't purchase. I thought I would take pictures of it for my memory and then give it to a thrift store.  Now as it hangs in my studio, I am thinking I should instead make something from this wonderful quality coat fabric.  Any suggestions?  

I'm serious, I want suggestions, please!

Windy suggests that we all eat more watermelon while it is still available. She loves fruit.  I do hope you all make the most of these waning days of summer.  Me, I'm off to eat a piece of watermelon!
Be well. 

Summertime

Hello!  I do hope you all are enjoying your summer and your weather is not too hot, not too wet, not too cold but is JUST RIGHT!

I have been working through the workshops in the 21 Secrets group and one is produced by Erin Bassett. 
Her workshop was on altered art and she showed how to decorate shoes.  I found a pair of new canvas shoes at the thrift store for $3 and gave Erin's instructions a try.

I used Luminart paints and the stencil in the photo.

Here is my result.  I rather like them!  

I wore them to a baby shower and the gift I brought was some onsies that I tie dyed.  Actually they were more technically fold dyed....

I used up my excess dye with some scrim and also tried some rice paper.  It took the dye beautifully!  I'll do more of that.

I forgot to get photos of the baby garments but here is one with the mother to be, Jamee Meir, holding one.  Cute, huh!  T-shirt is kinda cute too.

I picked a winner for my book giveaway and it is Cynthia at oldblackcatboo.  Send me your address Cynthia and I'll get the book Cabin 108 off to you this week.  
Until next time, 

be well. 

New author, new book giveaway!

I am pleased to announce that a friend of mine is a newly published author and I would like to give one of my readers a copy of his book.  The authors name is Glenn Stenson, you can check out his book web site here at Cabin 108. 

Love, Lust or Just Plain Lost?

Unloved, Gordon’s hungry heart yearns for life’s magic once more. Beautiful Laraine then enters his world and touches him like none before. Fireworks fly, emotions rollercoaster, and his spirit soars to new heights. Gordon has found his soul mate.

Or has he?

Packing away his low self-esteem and a learned distrust of others, Gordon steps into a world of cow pastures and kindness. His gentle ways, quirky humor, and mastery in the kitchen endear those in his new and safe surroundings, allowing him to hone his talents, self-worth, and aspirations. Exploring both love and lust, these relationships challenge his values as he struggles to rediscover, redefine, and reinvent himself. The path, crooked as llama teeth, leads to no straight answers as he searches to nourish his spirit with truth and tranquility. In the end, a new, stronger, more aware Gordon emerges as the adventure changes him, his morals, and his boundaries.
It is a fun and definitely lusty novel.  I'd love to see more people buying this book and getting the word out.  You may purchase it direct from Glenn's web site and receive a signed copy, or it is also available on Amazon.

If you would like to receive this signed first edition copy, just leave me a comment and I will choose a winner on July 14th.  Please be sure I have a way to contact you if you win.  Good luck!