Out of the Box

I am a yellow/red, fall/winter person and I have a hard time starting a project that doesn't start with the aforementioned colors or themes from fall and winter...so the lime green background here with a blue birdhouse was completely out of the box for me. But, I love how it turned out. The bird house is made from fabric paper (thanks to Beryl Taylor's instructions from her book under my favorite books)and the roof is copper leaf. The leaves are done with various threads. The background is hand-painted muslin. This miniature "quilt" reminds me that sometimes I need to step out of the box and expand my creative wings.

Speaking of stepping out of the box, I am taking Carol Murphy's class called Tempting Techniques offered through Joggles.com and am having so much fun. Penscore is a new product for me and I have been having a blast creating my own "stamps". Lumiere paints are also something I have never played with. I am still working on getting results that I like. I LOVE these on line classes. This is the 4th one I have taken from Joggles.com and I have not been disappointed. The instructors are great and I have learned so much from them. And there are so many choices...well, as you can see I am a big fan. 

                                                              

 birdhouse details

Graduation and bac to the studio

My two boys...well, young men. Chris' red cord means that he graduated cum laude and yep!!! I sure am proud. 

The studio is calling. I haven't been in there for any length of time for a couple of weeks and it shows. While I am away I think the muses play and create an awful mess!!!  It won't quite take a shovel to get to where I can create but it will be close.

So clean-up is on the agenda for now. 

Graduation Day

Today was #2 son's graduation from college. Chris now has a degree in music education. The day was very long with a two hour drive in each direction and 4 hours of graduation ceremonies. Lunch at Chris' favorite restaurant ended a  delightful time with the boys. 

Colin drove home for the graduation and heads back to Ohio tomorrow. He has been on vacation since his wedding and it was great to see him. Unfortunately Chelsea had to work so she is left holding down fort in Ohio. I am sure their cats are glad one of them stayed home.

                 My new daughter-in-law, Chelsea and my son Colin at their wedding.

What a joy it is to have a new member of the family. The "kids" decided to spend their honeymoon on the East Coast ad have used our place as home for their various activities. They have spent the week with us and we are delighted to have them here.

Since the wedding last Sunday, I haven't had much chance to get into the studio but have BIG plans for getting there this week. I want to try using my jet ink printer to print on dryer sheets. This idea came from the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I have painted, melted, stamped on and sewn dryer sheets but have never tried putting them through the printer. I can think of several projects that could be enhanced with the use of printed dryer sheets. Can't wait to get started!!