As the old year winds down

I am thinking about and planning some projects for 2012

I saw lots of embroidered tops on a recent trip down to West Palm Beach,

especially at Anthropologie

so I dug out some of my vintage patterns and collected floss and fabric

I plan to make up several kits in the next few days for embroidering and sewing.

I will also be listing a bunch of my vintage patterns on etsy so stay tuned!

DH gave me a wonderful magazine for Christmas called Jane Austen Knits - I love it!

And here I am casting on the Theme scarf out of some Cherry Tree Hill yarn from my stash

the color is called Spring Frost and it is so beautiful!

I also started working on a quilt for DH's birthday this spring

The pattern is from the February 2009 issue of American Patchwork & quilting

which I picked up at the Used Book Store

I think he will like it (well, I hope so anyway).

He likes to have a small quilt down at the bottom of the bed

just in case his feet get cold!

Thanks for reading

and hope you have a fun weekend!

We are just staying home for New Year's Eve

but I am going to a painting party on New Year's Day

and we are attending a big birthday party on Jan 2-

should be fun!!

that's all for 2011 -

see you next year

Chris

A holiday painting for my Captain

 I painted this for my DH for Christmas - it is based on a photograph that he took on Christmas night 1997 when we were anchored in Boot Key Harbor at Marathon. He went out in the dinghy and took photos of Kalahari, our sailboat, backlit by the sunset.

I have been working on skies so this one reminded me of early morning in the Keys and I worked on the strip of land from my fond memories

Hope you are having a wonderful Boxing Day!

Chris

Merry Christmas

May your holidays be shiny brite!

Chris

Happy Solstice!

"Night goes with silent steps

round house and cottage

o'er earth that sun forgot

dark shadows linger.

Then on our thresholds stand

white clad, in candlelight

Santa Lucia"

-an old Swedish chant

Holiday spirit all thru the house

1. a wreath that I made last year from Gecko Galz ephemera.

2. a variegated poinsettia on my table.

3.Buckingham Palace shortbread (I had to test a piece!)

4.I think this tag (Tim Holz inspired) is day 10 - I admit I didn't really like his for the last 2 days.

Hope your holidays are filled to the brim with joy and love!

Chris

Days 8 & 9

Day 8 of Tim Holtz's tags - a Steampunk tag

Notice the movie ticket stub for Sherlock Holmes and the date 12/25/2009

Amazing the things I save in my ephemera box!

Day 9

Free hand cut the candlestick, and the word "peace" is assembled from the remains of my favorite Pink Paislee alphas.

Off to work at the bookstore

Have a great day!

Chris

December days 5, 6, and 7

Here are my newest tags inspired by Tim Holtz, but if you are following his blog,

you can see that mine ended up very differently

His day 5 was a red background with stamped white letters

I used a plaid paper

(I just finished reading Diana Gabaldon's new book

The Scottish Prisoner

and I suspect that I was influenced in my color and pattern choices by the thought of Jamie

I added some black Prima lace, some red tulle, and a Russian enamel brooch

His day 6 was a funky technique using some stuff I have never seen so I dug in my scraps box

and came up with a scrap of a painting that I had done in watercolor and gold leaf

It made me think of the wonderful dark chocolates that my DH gave me for my birthday

(I had saved some of the wrappers)

and I just accented it with a peacock feather and some charms along with the title

Finally day 7

Tim die cut holly leaves but I painted them and cut them out

I used a scrap of Stampington paper and a torn Prima butterfly (missing some parts!)

some little pearls (don't know whose)

I am really enjoying making these little tags

I will admit that I have moved away from scrapping pretty much

but it is so much fun to play with paper

flowers, ribbons, inks, and paints

I am ready to create some more tags but lest you think I haven't been painting

just a quick little sketch in my sketchbook of a Venetian door

from a photo I saw in a book

I am super excited to be enrolled in a painting class starting in January

about painting Venetian landscapes in watercolor

Maybe my OLW for 2012 should be Italy -

I could paint Italian scenes, learn to speak Italian (I have some cd's), 

watch movies filmed in Italy (the Tourist, Under the Tuscan Sun, etc.)

eat Italian food (my son gave me a Venetian cookbook for my birthday),

well,

it's a thought anyway

What are your plans for next year, and do you have any favorite movies or books set in Italy?

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

December tags 3 & 4

More tags inspired by Tim Holtz

I stamped the tag with several different word and/or letter stamps in different colors

then added a little pine cone decoration that I used to wear on my suit collar lapel

The brass button came from my grandfather's fire chief's uniform

I loved Tim's snowman but I don't have a die cutter so I free cut the snowman from felt and used some old Pink Paislee alphas for the 25 and for his arms - a ribbon scarf, some tulle, and a few buttons to add some "snowball" accents

I just finished tags for days 5, 6, and 7

BUT

you will have to come back tomorrow to see them

I am using Tim's basic layouts and some elements 

but

my tags are taking paths of their own

Thanks for stopping by,

Chris

December days 1 & 2

Day 1 (yesterday) of Tim Holtz's 12 tags for Christmas.

I went with his basic idea but used what I had in the studio

I have been doing a bit of sketching faces

Art is practice, patience, perseverance, and play!

Day 2 (today)

I drew the deer and cut it out freehand

I dyed the ribbon and burlap with coffee

Last week was a special family time with good company and delicious food.

This week has been a whirlwind of activity - painting, crafting, designing a new quilt, attending a Christmas luncheon, shopping, and working.

Sorry I haven't been around the web much lately but I have lots to show you in the next few weeks.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chris