Creative Mischief

Art by the Sea Jan 21 & 22

2012-01-20T06:21:00.000-05:00

If you live in the area of Vero Beach/Melbourne/Fort Pierce, Florida,

be sure to come to the Art by the Sea exhibit

at the Vero Beach Museum of Art

My painting Cactus Flowers will be in the show

along with many other fabulous creations.

We have a great art community in this area so don't miss out.

See you there,

Chris

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Thanks for joining me this past year in my flights of creative mischief

and hope to see you again in the coming year

May your new year be filled with joy and light!

Chris

As the old year winds down

2011-12-30T10:29:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

May your holidays be shiny brite!

Chris

Happy Solstice!

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

"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

2011-12-20T13:45:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-07T14:45:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

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

November - right now

2011-11-19T15:43:00.001-05:00

Right now............................
lots of activity going on in my studio - some things being finished, some things being started, and some other things in the midst
Above is a lap quilt I made for DH - the traditional Ocean Waves pattern just a bit updated on the edges - to remind him of our years living on the sea. The fabrics are a mixture of new and old - some Androsia from the Bahamas, some Japanese yukata fabric, and who knows what else

I am going through the design stage of a new quilt - thinking, sketching, playing with fabrics - we'll see what happens.......

I finished this knitted lace scarf for the Jane Thornley Branches & Dunes knitalong - it is knitted from Dune, Berrocco linen jeans, Artyarns regal silk, and some cream yarn (not sure of the brand) that I hand dyed with coffee and with glimmer mist. As you can see, the scarf coordinates with the knitted short sleeve cardigan that I knitted last year out of Berrocco linen jeans yarn

Just ready to cast on a new shawlette from a pattern called To Eyre - it is designed from the shawls in the Jane Eyre movie that I just recently saw on DVD. I fell in love with the shawls when I saw them and of course, was able to find a wonderful pattern on Ravelry.

My white poinsettia is turning white on the top leaves just in time for the holidays and one of my Christmas cacti is covered in buds. And can you believe it, one of my azalea plants is blooming right now - too strange - normally they don't bloom until February.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving - turkey and all that!!!!

Thanks for looking and have a great week,
Chris

{this moment}

2011-11-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I have not been a very good blogger lately but sometimes life gets in the way. LOL!
Since last time, the temps have cooled off a lot here and we are enjoying the lovely November weather. October was a bit of an anomaly as it rained and rained and rained - not normal at all - last month we had the 2nd most rainfall in a month since they have been recording weather stats - and the all time top month for rainfall was September 2004 in which we had direct hits from 2 hurricanes. (We are saying thank you thank you for no big ones this year.)
I have been knitting, reading, baking bread, making soups, and painting. The photo above is of my easel/work table this morning and here is a close up of the poinsettia - just a little holiday spirit!

Hope your week is going well and thanks so much for stopping by.
Chris

Happy Samhain!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.002-04:00

THEME IN YELLOW
I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

- Carl Sandberg

Revisiting Orchids

2011-10-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

I created a mixed media piece two years ago (and fortunately sold it) of Cattleya orchids and a wood backdrop. The wood was done with collage and acrylic paints, the flowers and background in watercolor, and the roots were composed of hand-dyed ribbons and fibers. I decided to recreate the piece, this time totally in watercolor. I applied the watercolor paint onto the wood area straight from the tube and moved it around with a palette knife. the rest of the painting is normal watercolor painted with brushes.

thanks for looking,
Chris

October - right now

2011-10-23T11:12:00.001-04:00

Just one more week in October but it's going to be a big one!!!!!! I am so loving this time of year with the house open

doing lots of baking - carrot cake for my birthday and banana walnut bread so yummy with cream cheese or goat cheese (just this minute I can smell our normal everyday bread baking - oooh yum - I love warm bread with butter or in the French way, with some dark chocolate melted on it!)

My lanai has lots of plants - Christmas cactus and poinsettia - getting ready for blooming and holiday gift giving

I am truly enjoying the wonderful new cookbooks that my son sent me for my birthday - I have been wanting more cookbooks by Tessa Kiros for so long - I love the artful photos and the delicious recipes

Doing lots of art and craft - see top photo - revisiting and finishing a quilt that I started when we lived in Jacksonville a long time ago (probably in the early 1990s). I called it Lavendar's Blue (like the song) - I pulled it out of the storage bin and fell in love all over with the soft palette.

Got sidetracked this past week knitting slippers - I had planned to knit slippers for DH for Christmas so I whipped up one last Sunday - it looked small so I showed it to him and had him try it on - way too small - I recalculated the stitch count and got his two slippers knitted on Mon and Tues - then on Wed I knitted a second one to match the small one so now we both have slippers - and just in time for our first "cold front" down in the 50s at night. Now I am back knitting my Branches and Dunes lace scarf.
I will be taking a watercolor class for the next two days in which we paint with gold leaf - sounds cool!
Hope your fall is going well and thanks for stopping by,
Chris

Artichokes - againnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?

2011-10-09T07:00:00.002-04:00

My friend Pat brought a picture of artichokes to our weekly art group so I just had to paint my version - in autumn colors

just perfect for an autumn tablescape. Don't you love the tiny baskets of fruits and vegetables? I got those many years ago at White's in Jacksonville (the San Marco store) - I still love them!

Have a great week!
Chris

{this moment}

2011-10-07T10:06:00.000-04:00

New autumn tessellations wall quilt

A sometimes Friday ritual. A single photo - a few words - capturing a moment from the past week. A simple moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. (Idea for blog post inspired by Soulemama)

A pot of tea and a bit of lace

2011-10-05T15:37:00.000-04:00

It's beginning to cool off a bit here (high 60s at night last weekend and mid 80s - hoping to turn off the a/c next week!) so I am back to knitting like a fiend. I have joined in with Jane Thornley's new KAL on ravelry - here's a link to my project page Branches and Dunes scarf. I am inspired by a bracelet that I made a few years ago

Love all the fall shades but popped with pinks.

Lace looks hard but I find it so incredibly rhythmic and peaceful - watching the pattern emerge.

I picked up a couple of CDs at the Used Book Depot when I worked last week (CDs are $1 and DVDs are $3) and am listening to them this afternoon while I knit - so peaceful and happy happy happy. The CDs are Maidens of the Celtic Harp and New Celtic Moon (the Paul Haslem Consort). Perfect knitting music - and to make it even more perfect, I just brewed a little pot of Russian tea - off to pour a cuppa (Russian tea always needs a bit of milk to soften the taste). So delicious!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!
Chris

October - right now

2011-10-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled......
- Robert Frost

Right now.....

I am hand stitching the last seam on my new autumn tessellations wall quilt - ready to sew on the borders and quilt it
I am casting on a Vineyard canopy scarf for the latest Jane Thornley knitalong on Ravelry
I am linking a few past Halloween postings over on the Paperissues blog
I am making vegetable soup for dinner
I am wishing that our markets/stores would get in some new crop apples (seems very late this year)
I am hoping that Anya will win on Project Runway (she is so incredibly creative and resourceful!)
I am enjoying the Inspector Lewis episodes on Masterpiece Mystery (love Lawrence Fox!)
I am hoping that we can turn off the air conditioning in the next 2-3 weeks (hope hope)
I am rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays!!!!!!

What's happening in your life?
Chris

Hitchcock Halloween

2011-10-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

Some months ago Somerset Studio put out a call for Hitchcock Halloween based projects

(the winners are in the current issue)

I began this project at that time but with so many personal issues, did not finish it until this past month

I altered a 7gypsies portfolio creating a Maison du Hitchcock portfolio and then added some mood boards for specific movies. The outside cover is covered with 7gypsies paper that was Glimmer misted over a Prima mask and gaffer tape along all edges. The center image is a Gecko Galz Masquerade ephemera and I added real scissors and a feather.

I filled the inside pages with actual ads from vintage magazines, Gecko Galz ephemera (Haute Couture pages 1 and 2), and actual items - snaps, buttons, fabrics, safety pins, and clothing tags.

Dial M for Murder

Gecko Galz paper and images with October Afternoon "M" stickers, fabric and lace, and a key

Marnie

horse picture from a child's reader, a photo of mine, Gecko Galz ephemera (bump in the night) on an actual employee personnel folder

Vertigo

Gecko Galz paper and ephemera (Marie Antoinette and Bump in the Night) along with actual vintage images from ads and a photo of mine

The Birds

Stampington paper, Gecko Galz ephemera (Little Birdy, bump in the night, and Haute Couture) along with K&co vellum bird, decoupage birds, and feathers

This was a very fun project - almost too many ideas!!!

thanks for looking,

Chris

Happy Mabon!

2011-09-23T07:00:00.003-04:00

I saw Rebecca Sower's mood board for fall on her blog and decided to make one for myself. I used a frame (bought for a dollar at a garage sale a long time ago), cut foam board to fit, and covered the board with white burlap. I hung it at the end of my long/narrow kitchen and figured that I can change it out season to season.
For autumn, I went with vintage Halloween postcards and book markers (from my collections) buttons, feathers, brooches, a necklace, ribbons, fibers, a chocolate wrapper from my vacation to Seattle, a card about the upcoming Andrew Wyeth exhibit at our art museum, and whatever else just seemed to fit.

What a fun project! and I am already thinking of a few changes for Thanksgiving, and then a whole new look for Solstice and Christmas!

Have a great weekend!
Chris

Just wishing and hoping, and hoping and quilting

2011-09-20T13:40:00.000-04:00

The fall equinox will be September 23at 5:05 am, and I am so very ready for cooler weather. Even though the temperature outside may still be 88, the light in the house has already moved to fall locations and I am responding to that shift. I rearranged my studio so that my painting area is directly below the south window, and I have designed a new tessellations wall quilt for this fall. (see the basic layout above).

Lots of little fabric squares being cut out and then sewn together.

I made leftovers soup this afternoon (leftover pork and broth, leftover chicken, leftover spaghetti sauce, leftover squash, and then chopped onion, potato, carrots, and celery with some herbs. YUM! and then we will also have a small loaf of homemade Country-style bread from Small Batch Baking.

This weekend I will be heading over to Sarasota for the Florida Watercolor Society show - lots of brilliant paintings and inspiring demos, and of course, lots of vendors!!!!

ttfn
Chris

{this moment}

2011-09-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words (or just a few) - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Sweet Hana and her yarn forest! (Yarns purchased at Tuesday Morning - all hand-dyed!!! A real steal - I am in Yarn Heaven right now! Casting on several new projects!)
Chris

Painting with friends

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Last week in my Thursday painting group, a friend showed me some photos that she had taken of prints in her stateroom from a cruise that she had recently taken. She had already painted her versions of two of the prints and was ready to start on the third. So I thought why not paint my version also - and I did. It is always so amazing to see how different painters see and paint so very differently - always a fascinating and enjoyable surprise!
Mine turned into a color study using two colors, a gold-yellow and a teal.
Chris

The colors of my life - painting and thrifting

2011-09-13T14:33:00.000-04:00

A study of yellows and purples

colors I love to paint

BUT

almost never buy or wear

Last week I really helped the economy!!

I had been having so many problems with my car (a 1998 Buick Century

that my husband inherited when his mother passed)

but I was trying to wait until next year when our finances will be better.

DH told me that he was concerned about the reliability of the car so

I went looking and purchased a new car

a Glacier blue Honda CR-V

whom I have named Miss Blue (my blue jeans baby!)

then I actually did some driving around town

and hit some thrift shops

Things are really really dead here so many of the thrift shops are having big sales

I went to 2 of the best ones - thrift shops from off Orchid Island (where the rich people live)

(Maybe you have heard of Orchid Island in the Stuart Woods's books - he lives here as does Carl Hiassen)

Anyway,

one of the shops had 75% off all women's clothes and I spent $28 and got

Talbot's tan pants

Old Navy tan cardigan

Jones NY black blouse

Talbot's black patterned knit top

white Austrian top

2 J Crew embroidered tops

So love the embroidery!

I did a quick look-up of pricing on line when I got home

and I got $400 (retail) worth of stuff for $28!!!!!

BUT

did you notice

everything I purchased was black, white, tan, or navy?

Interesting?!?

thanks for reading,

Chris

Some days.......

2011-09-12T07:00:00.001-04:00

Every once in a while Amanda Soule of soulemama has a post called "some days", and I can always relate!

Some nights after you get in bed, you hear cursing from the bathroom - you get up to discover that a filling came loose from DH while he was brushing his teeth, and now your budget for the month that was strained will be strained even tighter with the cost of the dental visit.

Some nights you are just falling into sleep when you are rudely awakened by a retching cat standing on the night table by your side of the bed. You then discover that she has been eating leaves from the bouquet of lilies that your DH gave you.

Some days you discover that the only quilt backing fabric that you have in the house is 14 inches too narrow, short, whatever, and you have to scrounge to find some scraps that can be sewn together to make up the shortage.

Some days you are finally able to get a certain craft book from the library and you discover that someone has cut out pages 161 - 165, the exact pages where the instructions for the project that you wanted to make were located.

But you know, it's all good. Every day is a gift, and some days you just have to laugh!

OR PAINT

Have a great day!
Chris

Revisitng the Classics

2011-09-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite "first liners"

is the opening sentence of George Eliot's Middlemarch

handmade flowers of vintage laces, silk dupioni, and hand-dyed muslin

with centers of vintage buttons and a vintage cuff link

I created the figure by cutting out sequential cardboard figures,

layering them, and then pasting over with papermache

finally covering with vintage pattern paper, and painting with acrylic paint

The bustle was constructed from hand-sewn silk dupioni and vintage lace

the picture was copied in reverse from Dover's Women, a pictorial archive of 19th century images,

(all copyright free)

and then image transferred to the gessoed and painted canvas.

I added the typography (computer) and the Prima rub ons.

I actually made this piece back in the winter and submitted it to Somerset Studio

for their Classics issue - but they did not use it so I am posting it now.

Hope you like it!

Chris

{this moment}

2011-08-26T07:00:00.001-04:00

Painting a BIG painting

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words (or just a few) - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This time of year

2011-08-23T13:42:00.000-04:00

This time of year it has been so very hot for so very long and there is still so very much longer to go until it cools off. I find myself trying to stay cool in our house cave with the drapes shut to keep out the heat and light, but there is still so much to do. Like preserving summer's bounty.
In the before photo above, you can see a lot of key limes from our tree (and it is absolutely loaded with more), some pickling cucumbers and some jars that I picked up at a garage sale several years ago. Time frame: early Saturday morning.
Now we go to later that same day:

and

Lots of chopping, grating, squeezing, measuring, mixing, cooking, stirring, and baking.
From the key limes I made key lime curd (recipe from Barefoot-Contessa-Cookbook by Ina-Garten), key lime yogurt cake (my adaptation of Ina Garten's lemon yogurt cake in Barefoot-Contessa at Home) and Key lime shortbread squares (my adaptation of Debby Maugans Nakos lemon shortbread squares from Small-Batch-Baking, the absolutely best baking book ever written about baking in small amounts for small families or even just yourself). The bread and butter pickles in the 2nd photo are from a recipe given to me by a friend. Dan can hardly wait for them to cure - I told him that he has to wait at least one full week!

At this time of year, living along the south Florida coast (and having spent so much time living on a boat and in the Islands), we avidly watch the weather in the Atlantic. I am praying that Irene stays out to sea and doesn't do much harm. We have been through two dead-on hurricane hits (one a 2 and one a 3) and multiple tropical storms - and believe me, you do not want to experience that!

Hope your summer has gone well and you are staying cool. It's amazing to think that school has already started for the year and that it is almost Labor Day. thanks for reading.
Chris

{this moment}

2011-08-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

hana, the snow leopard

tracks across the freshly made snowy bed

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words (or just a few) - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

wabi-sabi a la gecko galz

2011-08-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

trying to be a bit more wabi-sabi in my scrapping

getting down to basics

the photos are of the Okefenokee Swamp in February

and of North Carolina in September

the patterned paper is now & zen

from the gecko galz zen garden collection

the ribbon is hand dyed (what about a tutorial on dyeing?)

of course, the ink is tim holtz distress ink in crushed olive (thanks Leanne!)

and the little golden accent up in the corner is from my

vintage jewelry parts collection

Chris

Magic Feather Project

2011-08-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

I have embroidered a feather for jude hill's -magic-feather-project

Check it out.

Her blog is so beautiful and inspirational -

one of my favorites!

Chris

Easy rider

2011-08-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

ME AT 4

elements thanks to Cynthia (Studio Calico papers) and Julie (the little yellow man).

Chris

Happy anniversary to you know who

2011-08-15T07:00:00.001-04:00

marriage is -----

matrix

mattress

maturity

all these and more.

Chris

Let's Ride at Paperissues!

2011-08-14T08:00:00.004-04:00

the latest challenge is up at http://paperissues.blogspot.com/ and it is Let's Ride!

I did this layout a while back for a Team Edward vs Team Jacob challenge

I really like Edward much better but so many people had picked Edward that I just had to be contrarian

and besides, I got this great idea to combine the picture of a wolf with a picture of a bike!

Another layout I did that is about cars is one I did for the late blog These are a few of my favorite things (so miss it!) I used to drive a Saturn and this photo was taken of me at the dealership when I bought it.

Be sure to post your "ride" at paperissues.

Chris

{this moment}

2011-08-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Setting up for a painting session

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words (or just a few) - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Prickly Pears

2011-08-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

A new painting

really digging in!!

Chris

Corners of my life

2011-08-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

One day last week I went up to Viera, FL (about an hour north of where I live) with some friends for a little shopping trip and lunch. DH gave me $20 to blow at Hobby Lobby so armed with a 40%off one item coupon and my $20 bill, I found some great accent pieces for my house - these incredible paper and wood balls and seeds, and some beautiful softly painted silk magnolias (which I combined with some brownish red eucalyptus twigs that I had at home). So loving soft, natural colors right now.

I had made the little felt and button dress a while back but just felt like putting it out with some button pins that I have also made, and then I accented my Peony painting with a wonderful rose bowl that my mother gave me many years ago. Always makes me think of summers in Missouri and all of my grandmother's rose bushes - so beautiful!

A shell in a hand-wrought bowl and a pile of books - always a big part of my life.

Right now I am reading the wabi-sabi house by Robyn Griggs Lawrence (recently reprinted as Simply-Imperfect-Revisiting-Wabi-Sabi-House). I am so taken by the simple beauty of this book and of the idea of wabi-sabi - imperfect and transitory beauty. I am slowly savoring this book and going a room at a time cleaning and eliminating "things" down to the essence. I will take some photos as I go along and share with you some of the wabi-sabi philosophy (I was lucky enough to get the book Wabi-Sabi for Artists Designers Poets and Philosophers from my local library - this is an absolutely brilliant and inspiring little book (only 96 pages)). I remember that Barbara Sher wrote in Wishcraft-How to get What YouReally Want that the Creator wants you to be all that you can be and that He/She helps you along the way with serendipity (coming across books or people or opportunities at the times that you need then - of course, many times we reject these opportunities or don't take advantage of them). I have been paring down my life and my art in the past year leaving myself open for new ideas and opportunities - and I was very very inspired by the Northwest and many of the serene aspects of that part of the continent. So who knows where this is going..........

AND by the way, I did manage to finish the quilt top by hook and crook and lots of piecing - even piecing the batting! Now I need to go through my fabric bin and hope to find a piece of white or very light fabric to use as the backing and then something for the binding - almost done!

Thanks for reading,
Chris

Quilting on a wing and a prayer

2011-08-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

I have been sewing fast and furiously on my summer-inspired quilt; the quilt is a log cabin style sewn directly onto a light batting and will have a piece of fabric added as backing and then the corners tied. I have used only fabrics that I had in my stash (which is shrinking rapidly since I have not purchased any fabric in over a year) and with batting scraps (this will be the last project that I can do without buying more batting). I chose to use a mix of cottons in blues, blacks, tans, creams, greens, yellows, and whites to create the look of summer - blue skies with white clouds, the beach, ocean and river, the sun, the grass and flowers. It has a soft, cool look to it, and I know that it will look even better once I paint my bedroom walls a light blue this coming fall. BUT I have a dilemma..............I have finished 18 blocks and have 7 left to piece -

these are strips already cut for future blocks

and this little shoebox contains the remaining scraps to be used - SO the question is - will I have enough fabric to finish???????

I will let you know later this week!
Chris

{this moment}

2011-08-05T11:05:00.001-04:00

"Things fall apart;

the center cannot hold."

-W. B. Yeats

I am forever inspired by Amanda Soule and her wonderful blog soulemama
so in that vein, here is a moment from my week
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words (or just a few) - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Life is short

2011-08-04T11:42:00.000-04:00

Laugh when you can... ✿ Apologize when you should... ✿ Let go of what you can't change... ✿ Love deeply and forgive quickly... ✿ Take chances and give your everything... ✿ Life is too short to be anything but happy... ✿ You have to take the good with the bad... ✿ Love what you have... ✿ Forgive and forget... ✿ Always remember that life goes on... ✿ Re-Post if you agree Life is short...

thanks Debbie for saying this so well!

It is a typical summer in Florida (very very hot and very very humid but very little rain) so I am caving in my studio - sewing a new quilt, painting lots of new paintings, and reading voraciously (I have been obsessed with the George R R Martin Game of Thrones series and am now in the the fifth and last so far, A Dance with Dragons - so perfect as an escape for hot summer afternoons).

I have been thinking quite a bit about the making of art and being an artist - what to show to the world and what to keep private. I will be posting some new pieces in the next few days and talking a bit about art making.

See you soon,

Chris

Petals

2011-07-12T16:50:00.000-04:00

"Life is a stream

On which we strew

Petal by petal the flower of our heart;

The end lost in dream,

They float past our view,

We only watch their glad, early start."

--Amy Lowell

Chris

Summer time and the peaches are sweet

2011-07-10T13:02:00.000-04:00

I love summer with its bounty of fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables.

this week I bought Georgia peaches, Rainier cherries,

juicy tomatoes, firm but moist cucumbers,

crispy radishes, and some of the last of the Vidalia onions

Yum!!!!!!!!

then I got really messy with paints, fibers, and trims.

I have returned from vacation with lots of photos

and lots of catching up to do here at home

but

I had an absolutely fantastic time in Seattle, Portland, Olympia, Mt Rainier (snow taller that our heads!!!), the Washington beach, the Kitsap peninsula, Vancouver BC, and Whistler BC.

More to come when I get things settled

but

I have to say that coming out of the Fort Lauderdale airport upon our return to Florida was like walking into a steam bath - I could positively hear my hair frizzing!!!!

Thanks for reading and I hope to be back tomorrow or the next day with some new things to show you.

Chris

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

Have a wonderful day

and thanks to all of those who have fought to preserve our freedoms!

Crazy clowns - Gecko Galz, 7gypsies, and more

2011-07-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

It's summertime - heat, barbeques, swimming, sunbathing, and circuses!

I love my 7gypsies printer's tray because it is so perfect for changing it to reflect the seasons and my current color choices - last summer's blue and white and February's pinkness - but right now it's all about yellows, reds, and oranges with a bit of turquoise thrown into the mix.

I cut out ephemera from the Gecko Galz Crazy Clowns and arranged them into some of the openings. I cut 2 tiny ephemera images to fit into the Gecko Galz locket pendants (in the bottom right corner) and I even added a Gecko Galz button pin with the fun lime green Gecko logo.

I added some Prima flowers and ribbons, some Making Memories flowers and one of their fun vintage groove jewelry pendants along with Prima "Believe" embellishment. I also included one of my handmade ruched flowers in a red gingham with a Jenni Bowlin button as the center. The button with the Chinese character is from my collection as is the Bingo game piece.

And then I really went crazy, adding an actual matchbox and spool of thread.

What a fun project - it makes me think of the circuses that my grandfather used to take me to when I was a little girl and also of the fun Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota. If you ever go to Sarasota, be sure to visit it!

thanks for looking and have a super day!

Chris

An eternal floral wreath - pretty in Prima and vintage

2011-06-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

If you follow my blog, you know by now that I love flowers - in scrapbooking and in painting so I have purchased quite a few Prima and vintage flowers over the years - I have used a lot but then I end up with ones not yet used or sometimes I demolish a layout that isn't quite up to my standards and I save the bits and pieces. I used to keep all of these miscellaneous flowers in a box but then I thought why not put them on display and enjoy them every day.

So I cut some corkboard that I had purchased at a thrift store into a wreath shape and began to pin(with pearl headed pins) the flowers on in a color wheel formation.

I love it and hope that you do too!

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

Ooh la la again - the Lady in Red (and Black)

2011-06-27T07:00:00.003-04:00

Just playing with colors and paints

She is a bit mysterious,

The Lady in Red and Black
Chris

Ooh la la!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Prima Style

2011-06-25T07:00:00.005-04:00

I created a little shadow box using the Prima Back Stage papers (formerly Moulin Rouge), flowers, and laces. I glued one of the papers into the box (found in my craft closet) and added lace to the dresses, crumpled tissue paper to adorn the dancers' hats, and a funky chandelier found a while back at the dollar store. I added a vintage crystal cuff link to the chandelier.

I cut out a dancer from another paper and added trim for a necklace, crumpled tissue paper for her bodice, and cut apart a Prima flower to get the small flower at her breast.

I gave her a skirt of a silk scrap and mounted her inside the box

and added lace to the background and to the outside of the box

I finished with more Prima flowers, some vintage velvet flowrs, some Prima bling, and a tassel.

What a fun, totally frivolous project!
Chris

Passionate about purple

2011-06-22T07:00:00.003-04:00

to paraphrase a classic poem,

When I am an old woman, I shall paint purple

and mauve and violet rose

and a few greens

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

I am so thrilled to be the feature artist on Jane Thornley's blog

2011-06-20T18:21:00.000-04:00

Just to let you know, I am the featured artist on Jane Thornley's blog today!!!! I am so thrilled!
http://www.janethornley.com/blog/index.php/knitting/blog_detail/knit_artist_of_the_week_chris_aiton/

Victorian roses

2011-06-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

I was very fortunate to inherit a few pieces of hand painted china -

the colors are so soft and tend towards pink-reds and brownish greens

so I painted my own version of Victorian Roses

Here are 3 of my plates - the bottom two are cake plates with the ear handles

The one on the bottom right came from my grandmother's family

and the other two were given to me by my mother.

Such beauty and joy!

Chris

What's your favorite piece of art?

2011-06-15T07:00:00.001-04:00

Please join us over at These are a few of my favorite things challenge blog for our latest challenge, what's your favorite piece of art. Picasso's "Girl in a Mirror" has been one of my favorites ever since I saw a photo of it in a magazine when I was a young teenager. I cut it out and had it on the bulletin board in my bedroom all those years and I still keep it in sight even today in my studio. I used a sheet of Stampington paper for the background and added a mix of Pink Paislee alphas, a Gecko Galz pin, a bird magnet from Michaels, and some vintage stuff. Be sure to come over and see the super creations by our fantastic DT!!!! And then show us your favorite!!!!
Chris

You can never have too many orchids

2011-06-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

A new mixed-media piece (watercolor orchids and background, acrylic and collaged tree, and hand-dyed and painted ribbons and fibers as roots

This was a really fun piece to create - one of those things where you get your hands dirty

or, as in my case, covered with paint and acrylic matte medium

Not too much happening right now as I spend all of my time working, knitting, sewing, or painting -

not to mention cooking, cleaning, reading, and occasionally sleeping -

there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Isn't life fabulous!!!!!!!!

Chris

Some of my favorite things

2011-06-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

I enjoy drinking wine and eating cheese and fruit

and

I love to paint

I combined my love of food and painting

to create this

"Study in yellows"

Chris

June Prima picks and my layout

2011-06-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

Playing with color, paper, paint, and embellishments

inspired by the June Prima picks

Looks like summer is here!!!!!

Chris

A rose by any other name.......

2011-06-10T13:43:00.001-04:00

I love painting flowers - each one is like a face with a personality

This group of roses just couldn't be contained within the confines of the mat

and exploded with blossoms, buds, and leaves -

I enjoy this type of painting - it is all watercolor but I have taken roses from 2 different beginnings

and layered them to create a whole new garden

thanks for stopping by,

Chris

Sewing a new purse

2011-06-09T13:23:00.002-04:00

I will be going on vacation for a couple of weeks this summer and wanted a new and very noticeable purse/tote to take along so I decided to make one myself out of things in my fabric stash -
(have I mentioned that I am on a very strict budget this year - oh yes, I know you say - but you are going on vacation - yes, but it was planned and budgeted for a while back - and - I have been a miser so far this year in anticipation of it - plus - not to mention - there have been so many increases in our expenses, like home insurance, car insurance, my health insurance, having to pay the whole amount for my skin cancer surgery - believe me, you do not want me to get started on the insurance industry!!! - but I digress.)
So I dug through my scraps and came up with some Heather Bailey 5" squares that I had bought several years ago, a big-enough piece of a yellow/peach stripe for the lining (this was hard and took some forethought), a leftover apron string made from HB fabric and enough of a similar fabric to make a second strap (pieced), several pieces of leftover quilt batting sewn together for internal padding, some scrap velcro, and a piece of cardboard for the bottom.

I sewed the squares together in rows of threes and then the rows in fours to create a back and front prox 14 x 18. I pieced and cut batting to fit and then quilted in the ditch. I sewed around 3 sides and then did the cross the corner deal at the bottom corners to create a bottom when you turn it right side out. I cut out the lining to fit and added lots of pockets to hold various things. I sewed the lining together leaving a space for turning at the bottom. I made the 2nd strap to match the apron string that I already had (I have no idea how I could have had one left???). I then sewed them to the outsides and finally sewed the lining to the outside at the top edge, right side together. I turned it all through the opening in the bottom of the lining and topstitched around the top. Finally I whipstitched the lining. I cut the cardboard to fit into the bottom and covered it with scraps of the lining, and then finished the purse with a velcro closure. I made this without a pattern but I have to admit that I had made a similar tote/purse a few years ago as well as a much larger fabric tote, and really this kind of project is super easy.
thanks for reading and hope you give this a try!
Chris

Right now...........................

2011-06-08T13:17:00.002-04:00

Right now............

I have been painting like a fiend the past couple of weeks and have finished paintings for both exhibitions coming up and then some that I will put on etsy later this summer.

I have been reading guidebooks, reviewing maps, and making notes about places to go when I am on vacation this summer - I will be traveling to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland with a few other stops in and around northern Oregon and Washington. I can hardly wait!!!!!!

We had dinner last night at a great restaurant at the beach - the Polo Grill. I had trout while DH had flounder, and I have to say that the complimentary mango sorbet might be the best that I have ever tasted!

I have cast on a new knitted piece - it will be a tabard done in a color scheme inspired by the Alma-Tadema painting of The Favorite Poet - lots of creams, taupes, tans, ivories, and soft pinks.

I won a couple of things - a GC from Jenni Bowlin for a Sunday challenge (the "Counting my Blessings" layout) and some badly needed adhesives from Jamie Dougherty's blog - Yay!!!!! It's amazing how you start running out of supplies when you don't buy anything - funny how that happens!

Hope all is well with you and thanks for reading,
Chris

My chartreuse muse - lots of photos

2011-06-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

This little book is what the collage artitst Mary Delany would call "promiscuous assemblage". It started with a challenge to create something using the color chartreuse and then took on a life of its own. I played with words rhyming with chartreuse, beginning with French words and then quickly degenerating into English. I made little rhymes and came up with pages that sort of illustrated the rhymes.

I used ephemera from Gecko Galz and Stampinton Art-to-Borrow. I hand painted the flowers, fabrics, and seam binding. The metal clasp on the cover is from Gecko Galz and the chipboard butterflies are old K&Co. The laces are Prima. I cut the book pages from a faux Victorian photo album (I did a previous Gratitude book from this same album) and sprayed them with lettuce Adirondack color wash.

Sweet Julie T-W sent me the most wonderful treasure jar of scrapping and gaming toys, and I used some of them here on the back cover. Thank you Julie - I am so happy to have you as a friend and boss!!!!!

Thanks for looking and hope you like my creation. If you have any questions about how I did any of it, please leave a comment and I will respond.

Have a great week!
Chris

Paper issues new theme

2011-05-29T11:22:00.000-04:00

We are going for a Father's day theme for the Paperissues challenge this time - this photo is of one of my DH's grandfathers. I just love it! I kept the layout pretty simple and had a fun time with the alphas.

Be sure to come over to Paperissues and link up your creations!

Yesterday I spent the entire day in the studio - I almost forgot to eat lunch but I finished a big project that I will reveal on June 1. I also finished another quilt block and cut out 5 more - hopefully to sew today but there is so much racing and baseball that I might not get it done. I went out to Big Lots this morning as they are having a special holiday "blast" and they had the little flip style video recorders for $20. I want to record some tutorials for my blog and DH wants to use it for recording and analyzing his golf swing. Sounds like fun! LOL! I wonder who will get to be his camera person!!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Chris

May Prima Picks

2011-05-28T10:28:00.000-04:00

I love the soft pastels of this month's Prima Picks but no time to do a layout or project -

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-27T08:07:00.000-04:00

After I get off work today, I will have 4 glorious days off and no place to go or any obligations to do!

My intention is to spend as much time in my studio as I can, finishing two paintings, a mini-book for publication, a Gecko Galz project for June, doing yoga, and working on quilt blocks.

We are having spareribs tomorrow night and then a honey ham on Sunday and Monday (I bought it when they were on sale at Christmas time). Add some potato salad, baked beans, lots of fresh veggies and fruit, and YUM YUM!

I am also saying thanks to all the men and women who have protected our country and allowed us to have such abundant and blessed lives.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Chris

Starting a new quilt

2011-05-21T14:01:00.000-04:00

Now that I have finished knitting the African vest, I am ready to start a new project - how about a quilt? I was totally inspired by Amanda Soule's quilt from the shore so I put her mosaic up on the computer and pulled out fabrics that reminded me of the sea and the shore.

I am really attracted to the soft blues, sands, grays, and tans of the ocean and shoreline; but there also needs to be some sparks and contrasts - the yellows, greens, and blacks or browns. One block done, 24 to go!
Chris

Kalahari vest and some fun things happening in the studio

2011-05-20T08:10:00.000-04:00

My vest is finished - yay!!!!!! but I will have to wait until Oct or Nov to wear it since it's a bit warm in the summer in Florida to wear something like this!

I finished reading A Discovery of Witches - it's a fun read!

Some fun creating going on in the studio

Gotta head off to work at the book store

See you soon

Chris

Jenni Bowlin, Color Room, and Color Combos challenges

2011-05-18T07:00:00.002-04:00

today was a crazy day with lots to do and somehow I got distracted with playing with paper, color, and challenges!

I looked at the email color challenge for The Color Room yesterday, and immediately thought of some old Anna Griffin blue and tan papers that would be perfect - and as I dug them out, I found the packaging for Godiva white chocolate and just knew that I had to use it. I had just received some Prima flowers in the mail (from the gift certificate that I won from Gecko Galz) and I am so in love with the new Prima button blossoms that I bought 2 colors of them including these tan ones - well, then to add the old Starbucks card was a no-brainer and the whole thing came together - two of my joys in life = good coffee and chocolate - either dark or white! I made the other flower from canvas - I cut a bunch of circles, sprayed them with water, and crunched them. I let them dry, layered them, and sewed them together with some pearls for the center. These are easy-peasy - I saw some on etsy for like $5 - are you kidding me????

this layout is for Color Combos (I realized as I looked at the photo that the layout is almost the same sketch style as the other one but whatever - you don't have to re-discover America with every layout!) The colors to use were teal, spring green, white, and lilac. I used a photo that I took when we were in the Bahamas in the 1980s pre-Atlantis. We actually stayed in the hotel complex that was remodeled to become Atlantis and this was the canal that ran to Nassau - it no longer exists as the whole was widened and dredged so bigger boats could come and go. I used a scrap of fabric from my stash, a painted scrap, some actual Bahamian stamps, and a bit of this and that.

And finally, for the latest Jenni Bowlin challenge - to use a star, a butterfly, ledger paper, and a stamped image. This layout started out with 3 photos and a bunch of other stuff - then I did yoga for half an hour, and the whole thing got majorly simplified - I think this might be the first layout that I have ever done with no photos.

Hope you are having a great week,

Chris

Free-range knitting without tears

2011-05-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

Here is a photo of the back and one front of my Kalahari vest that I am knitting for the Jane Thornley knitalong on Ravelry. In the true spirit of free-range knitting, I deviated a bit from her original pattern. I am now working on the other front and then will have the 2 gussets to knit and sew it all together. The deadline is May 31 so I should be finished in plenty of time.

The choice of yarns was inpsired by a stock photo of the Kalahari desert that I found on line but I also decided to do a little watercolor sketch - the photo and sketch have some gold grasses in them and even though I had pulled some lichen Giotto ribbon yarn from my stash for this piece, somehow it just didn't work with the other yarns. The variegated orange ribbons in the vest (where the little bows are) are actually stribbons that I cut on the bias from a vintage silk scarf. I then zigzagged the strips together on the sewing machine - they knit up beautifully and are a lot cheaper than buying ribbon yarn.
Yesterday morning we watched the Endeavor take off. We can see it once it clears ours and out neighbors' trees. It's funny but when we moved into this house 7 years ago, our tree was so much smaller - as they say, time flies!

I'm off to knit although what I really want to do is read - I am hooked on A Discovery of Witches , mentioned in a previous post. The book is so "spellbinding" (LOL!) Just picture if you will a funky witch who doesn't want to use magic, a hunk of a vampire (swoon!!!!!!), and lots of wired daemons all participating in a yoga class - and of course, an evil wizard out to get her. The book is very well written and moves quickly.
Check it out.

thanks for reading and have a super day!

Chris

What's your favorite photo????

2011-05-15T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's the 15th and time for the newest challenge at These are a few of my favorite things challenge blog -

What's your favorite photo?

Be sure to check out the fabulous layouts by our incredible DT!!!!

I know that most of their layouts are centered around photos of their children but honestly I couldn't really pick just one of my son or just one of my DH and me or just one of my mother so I decided to go with one of my very special vintage photos - this photo is of my grandmother (who died before I was born) and her brother - I love their outfits, and that chair is to die for!

I created a collage background using elements from many manufacturers and sources

I like to use actual packaging on my layouts - it makes a statement about the world we live in right now - the colors and phrases used, and it's also about not wasting things.

Hope you like my layout and be sure to come over, check out the DT creations, and show us your favorite photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris

the worst of weeks, the best of weeks - lots of photos

2011-05-14T13:13:00.001-04:00

Last weekend (NSD and Mother's Day) started out so nice - DH brought me a bouquet of roses, I scrapped, and then finished a painting - see above - it's a mixed media piece with 3 layers of watercolor orchids and leaves, and then knotted ribbons and yarns for roots (the photo doesn't really capture how bright it is.)

I did this layout for the doodling challenge at BPS

We had a lovely dinner of shrimp, French bread, and salad

I washed the dishes and then took my cup of tea and chocolate mousse into the living room to enjoy

BUT

instead I was suddenly overtaken by extreme nausea and rushed to the toilet to throw up

That night I was so sick and again on Monday morning - I had to call in sick to work and then threw up a few sips of tea and returned to bed and slept until 3pm - I was able to eat a little soup for dinner

Tuesday I was weak as a kitten but by Wednesday I was stronger and able to go to the art studio where I began to paint some cactus flowers

This is the beginning of a new mixed media piece - I have begun painting the background on a bigger sheet of paper and plan to make the cactus stickers somewhat 3-d, perhaps with toothpicks or?

On the way home from the art studio, I realized that my car a/c wasn't working properly - it blows cold out the passenger side but not the driver's side - I looked it up on the computer and will try a couple of things but at this point, I just don't have the money to get it fixed so it looks like I will be biting the bullet this summer - did I mention that I live in south Florida?! Once June starts and everything really shuts down here (many things are already closed some days of the week and almost all of the snowbirds are gone), I will probably only be going out a couple of days a week - the museum is closed on Monday so I won't be working there and the art studio on Wed is also shut down until Sept. So it isn't as bad as it would be if I had to leave the house every day.

Anyway, by Thursday I was totally back to my crazy little wired self and was able to run errands and paint. AND we actually had about 20 minutes of rain at my house late Thursday afternoon. I heard a sound outside and wondered what it was - we are in the midst of a terrible drought so the rain was a true blessing (and when I mentioned at work, no one else had had rain - so strange!) I worked on Friday at the used book store where I discovered a bundle of papers that someone had thrown in the trash bin - it was an old scrapbook with newspapers from 1940!!!! That baby came home with me!

Today has been a super day - a slice of sweet Florida cantaloupe for breakfast, cleaned the lanai, took 2 old rattan chairs and some other stuff to St Vincent de Paul and then scored majorly at their shop

I got this cool little loom and the loops for 20 cents - I used to make potholders with one like this when I was a little girl

this pile of books for $1.70 or something like that - and the really cool thing is the very top book by Georgette Heyer Footsteps in the Dark is one I have been looking for quite a while - I read about a new edition of it on Bas Bleu but our library doesn't have it (and with the budget cuts, they no longer do interlibrary loans) so I was super super excited to find it (it doesn't take much to get me excited!!) I also bought a Hot Cotton linen and cotton shirt for $2.50 - It's a black and white plaid and will look fantastic with my black capris, and I remember seeing it at Steinmart last year - yay!

Then I went to the library as they had some books for me

I have read great things about A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - it sounds like my kind of reading - witches, alchemy, and vampires but all wrapped up in a very literary mystery.

Everyday Icon is a book about Michelle Obama's wonderful style

and I think most bloggers have read or heard about the Pioneer Woman

Drawing Conclusions is the brand new Brunetti mystery by Donna Leon

I also just finished the brand new Jacqueline Winspear mystery A Lesson in Secrets - very good!

I just finished baking a small banana cake (one very soft banana and I just can't bear to throw food away.) I used an old recipe (from 1930) that's in an old cookbook that my mother gave me a long time ago - it is the best cookbook and has so many delicious but inexpensive old recipes - waffles, banana cake, carrot cake, the best pie crust, and wonderful cupcakes.

The rest of the day looks to be a busy one - knitting on my African vest (pix tomorrow), pork scallopini, hot caramelized Vidalia onion roasted potatoes, and salad for dinner, and reading later this afternoon and evening while DH watches the Players golf championship and the Yankees/Red Sox game on tv

Today is just a really super day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much for reading and I hope that you have a wonderful day,

Chris

Beach music

2011-05-10T06:57:00.000-04:00

I guess you know that I live in a beach town in south Florida - of course, not being a millionaire, I live about 3 miles from the ocean; but we have lots of beach access and I love going to the beach

Thought you might like a few pix

the middle photo is looking to the north and this one to the south

and dead east at the Atlantic

These two crows made me think of Heckle and Jeckle (and for those of you who don't know who Heckle and Jeckle were, I guess you could say they were the Ren and Stimpy of the 50s!)

Hope you enjoyed this little view of my part of the world,

Chris

Happy Mother's Day and a little cropping

2011-05-08T06:56:00.000-04:00

Hope you are having a lovely Mother's Day!

I received a beautiful bouquet of roses. I am so blessed.

Yesterday, being National Scrapbooking Day, I joined in with the crop at Big Picture Scrapbooking and played along with a few of their challenges.

the above layout is for the wood-grain challenge and thanks to Cynthia, who sent me the March Studio Calico kit, I had this fantastic wood-grain fabrip stuff along with the Cosmo Cricket background paper.

this layout was for the Outside the box challenge in which elements of your layout should extend beyond the edges of the paper. I hand painted these roses and used a vintage photo of my mother and her sisters (all mothers). There were 4 sisters and 2 are now gone - they are very much missed!

Have a wonderful day!

Chris

Let's talk about furniture

2011-05-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

When we moved back onto the land from our sailboat ten years ago, we had almost no furniture (everything we owned was either on the boat or in a 5x5 storage unit) so I went garaging as furniture at garage sales is almost always cheaper than at thrift stores. I found this fantastic vintage wood couch for $95(it is very heavy wood and believe me, you do not want to stub your toe on the club feet!!!). It was painted a distressed white and had a blue cushion on it. I redid it with a distressed cream paint and had the cushion reupholstered in a soft cream/tan stripe.

Isn't the detail work just fantastic?!

Here it is with the matching pillows and some pillows that I made from silk shirts that I had. I measured the pillow forms and cut squares from the fronts and backs of the shirts (remember about 6-7 years ago when large Hawaiian type prints were popular - the thrift stores are full of them) making sure to center where the buttons and buttonholes were on the front. Then I sewed them together right sides together, turned them, ironed them, inserted pillow forms, and buttoned the buttons. So easy!!!!!

Here is a broader view of the corner of my living room (see how bright it is in the summer even with the drapes drawn). I bought the coffee table for $15 at a garage sale - it was painted a sickeningly bright yellow so I stripped it and painted it the same distressed cream as the couch. The funky lamp in the corner is from Pottery Barn - I got it free with reward points from purchasing my dining room set there. The rug is a Nain silk rug from Iran, purchased on ebay a long time ago. Silk rugs are very sturdy, feel great to bare feet, and age gracefully.

This is the view across from the couch - some of my wooden box collection on top of the television cabinet. The wood box on the right was hand made by my husband's uncle, who was a skilled cabinet maker for an old hotel. He made these jewelry boxes in his spare time.

Just to the right in the corner are 2 vintage prints of Nassau found in a thrift store and a pineapple watercolor by me.
Hope you enjoyed this little peek into my living room
Chris

Things making me happy right now

2011-05-04T07:00:00.002-04:00

A new mixed-media piece on my worktable

a homemade chocolate chip cookie on a vintage plate

back of my Kalahari vest finished

hand dyeing seam binding in coffee and tea (ended up too faint so I enhanced it with watercolor paint)

seam binding sprayed with different colors of glimmer mist and Adirondack spray

Books that I ordered coming today!

Life is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND

I won a $25 gift certificate to Scrapbook.com by winning a Gecko Galz contest with this fan

I am a Happy Camper!

Thanks for looking,

Chris

Just something I made

2011-05-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

Just thought I would share with you something I made a while ago - like maybe a couple of years! LOL! It is a handkerchief holder that I hang on my bathroom door. I got the idea from Amanda Soule of Soulemama blog fame. I cut a length of fabric 12 1/2 by 15 inches. I hemmed the two 12 1/2 edges and then folded each end to the middle right sides together. I laid a piece of folded ribbon across one end and stitched across each end and down a bit on the center opening. I turned the holder right side out and inserted a piece of cardboard 6 by 11 into the holder, and ironed it flat. I then filled it with handkerchiefs. Amanda Soule does not iron hers - she just launders them and puts them in so the family can pull one out whenever - but I am a bit more anal and so I wash them in the machine, line dry them, and then iron them. I lay down one, lay one to the right half way, fold over the first one, then lay one to the left half way, fold over the second one, and so on - similar to the way tissues are packed in boxes so when you pull one out, the next one peeks its end out.

I love the soft feel of vintage cotton or linen - so much more soothing and environmentally friendly than Kleenex or Puffs or Scotties or..........

Hope you are having a wonderful day!
Chris

More sketchbook pages

2011-05-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

One fish, two fish

Yellow fish, blue fish

or something like that!

Just playing around

Knitting like a fiend this weekend

and also reading some fun old books that I picked up at the library

I always love to read Georgette Heyer books when I am feeling a bit harrassed or down

They always distract me and get me through

I was complaining earlier this week about the increases in our homeowner's insurance and my health insurance

and then on Thursday we received the bill for our car insurance - it also increased by 15% so I called the company and was told that all car insurance in Florida increased 15%

I then got a couple of quotes from other companies and sure enough, that's right

I guess you thought I was kidding about the beans and rice by candlelight! LOL!

BUT

life is good

and I know that I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful DH and son, a funny and loveable cat, a paid for roof over my head, tomatoes on the plants, paints in my palette, some bins of fabric and yarn, and lots of books

I watched part of the Royal Wedding on Friday before I went to work - was that not something?!

What a fantasy! LOL!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend

Chris

What's your favorite thing about Spring?

2011-04-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Come on over to These are a few of my favorite things challenge blog and see what the DT has created to show you their favorite things about spring - and then create your own layout and post it to Mr Linky!

Gecko Galz (thank you Leanne!) is our sponsor for this challenge so for this layout about Spring I used printable paper Here Comes the Sun from the Gecko Galz Strawberry Fields collection and ephemera from the Girlfriends2 collection. The flowers are Prima, the alphas are October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket, and the little umbrella is from a drink!

The prize from Gecko Galz will be a $20 gift certificate to use for any products on their website http://www.geckogalz.com/ . Gecko Galz products include ephemera, paper sets, alphabet soup, digital stamps, project kits, cd collections of their papers and ephemera, and fripperies (glitter, ribbons, and antique pearl buttons).

Chris

Prima April Build a page - Say It in vintage

2011-04-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Inspired by the April Prima build a page sketch, I created this layout - everything is Prima, including the packaging for the Say it in crystals and Say it in Pearls, which coordinates so well with my title, Say it in vintage. Perhaps you have seen the photo before, here on my blog; it is of some of my collection of vintage pins. I even used 3 of them on the layout. I also hand painted in watercolor the roses at the top and some underlying ones at the bottom.

This was a fun layout - complete abandon and totally frou frou!!!

I am re-reading the Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman (love the His Dark Materials trilogy!) and I got an audio cd from the library of Lyra's Oxford. I think it's about Lyra's life after the trilogy is over. So looking forward to listening to it as I knit.

Based on a recommendation by someone's blog (sorry I can't remember whose), I read the first book in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar trilogy and loved it. I got it from the library and then I tried to get the 2nd book but apparently it is misfiled or stolen, and they don't have the 3rd book at all. I requested it via interlibrary loan but now I find out that due to budget cuts, there will be no interlibrary loans any more SO I have been haunting ebay and half.com looking for the cheapest option - finally today I was able to order the trilogy for less than $10 and that includes shipping. I'm excited!!! If you like fantasy and/or time travel, these are for you - I really enjoyed the first one but I warn you - there are lots of characters so when I receive the books, I am going to re-read it before I start the second one.

AND I am also excited - I just got an email that I can pick up the dvd of Black Swan at the library tomorrow - Yay! I have been waiting ever since it came out - I am now on the reserve lists for The King's Speech and The Tourist - 28 and 25 respectively!

Hope you are having a great week! It is very very hot and windy here - prime forest fire season! We are praying for rain! thanks for reading,
Chris

Right now.................

2011-04-27T15:15:00.000-04:00

I am loving seeing all of these baby tomatoes on our plants

I am loving a freshly ironed pile of cotton and linen vintage handkerchiefs

I am knitting like a fiend on my African vest
I am finishing up a couple of layouts
I am looking at a little painting of an iris that I did this morning in my open studio
I am pretty irritated by the increase in the cost of my health insurance - up 15% as was our homeowners' insurance (and next year it looks like we may get a 30% increase as the FL legislature is voting to allow insurance companies some pretty big increases)
I am wondering how children in Florida are going to get decent educations when the legislature has voted to decrease school spending to the level of 1976 (not percentagewise, to the actual dollar number spent then)
I am also wondering why other state governments are listening to our ex-governor who is going around promoting testing as the best way to judge school effectiveness - especially since our children as the guinea pigs for his experiment are proving that it doesn't work - they can answer the test questions but they can't think or reason
I am feeling very upset about the future in store for our children and our children's children
SO
I am focusing on the little things that bring joy to my life - eating beans and rice by candlelight is very romantic!

Come back tomorrow for a new layout - my take on the Prima April Build a page
Chris

No rest for the painter or the knitter

2011-04-25T14:50:00.001-04:00

Despite being sick last week, I did do some painting and knitting (most of the knitting was on the weekend).

I did this one just for fun!

I am knitting a vest with the Jane Thornley knit-a-long on Ravelry - I found this necklace that I had made a long time ago - I think it will add to the Safari flavor!

The project must be finished by May 31 so I have to get busy and knit knit knit. The back which you see part of above is about half done, then I move on to the fronts, the gussets, and the finishing touches. I probably won't be able to wear it until late fall, but I think it will look very exotic with jeans or black pants and a black top.
Hope you are having a good week. I just finished the Prima BAP for April and need to photograph it - hopefully later today or tomorrow. See you soon!
Chris

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

Have a wonderful day!

Starting some new things

2011-04-22T12:13:00.001-04:00

The past two weeks have been pretty gruesome around here - I think I told you that DH had the flu - he is now improving but still coughing up a storm. Believe me, you do not want to catch this strain (DH had gotten a flu shot in the fall but as he says, there are always new bugs mutating out there!). Of course, I caught it on Sat! It has been a miserable week but you know how you just do everything you have to do even though you feel wretched - and then you crash when you get home! I finally slept well last night and actually feel like I am recovering today (knock on wood!).
I was invited to join another Knit-a-long - it started this past week but I was too sick even to knit! The knit-a-long is based on Jane Thornley patterns and is to capture Africa in your creation. I found the above image of the Kalahari (our sailboat's name) on the web to use as inspiration, and above is a photo of my selected yarns. I also made some stribbons from the silk scarves in the photo.I have no money to purchase anything new so I shopped my stash and am using lots of leftovers.

As you can see, Hana is helping me select yarns, and she has deigned to model as my lioness muse!!!!!

Another sketchbook page -

Hope you are having a good week - I feel much better today and hope it continues over the weekend - I have some paintings in me that need to be released and I have to knit knit knit to catch for the lost week.

Thanks for reading,
Chris

Some peeks into my sketchbook

2011-04-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

I am trying to paint a bit every day - my journal is filled with pictures but few words. I speak with my paints about the things I see, read, and remember. Even though I live in south Florida just 3 miles from the ocean, I can still see mountains, rivers, and rocks in the lands in my mind; and I can imagine a young girl who becomes a swan in a fairy story.
Chris

Hi-hi-hibiscus

2011-04-18T07:00:00.003-04:00

I purchased this fantastic crystallized porcelain ikebana vase about a month ago at an art show here - I absolutely fell in love with this potter's creations but they were quite expensive! I was thrilled to find this lovely little vase in my price range - and here it is with a single hibiscus. Just wait until the fancier ones are in bloom - we have a stunning pink variegated one with the coolest variegated leaves, and a double red one!

Have a great day!
Chris

A new painting

2011-04-17T07:00:00.004-04:00

I am trying to use every free moment right now to do the things I have to do so I can carve out blocks of time to paint and create. This painting is my interpretation of one in An Introduction to Flower Painting by Elizabeth Harden. During the workshop that I took last week, I was introduced to a wonderful painter from the UK, Shirley Trevena, and would love to get her books. However, funds are slim so I put them on my wishlist and hopefully will get them for my birthday later this year. I thought that I had seen some of her work before and when I got home, I dug through my watercolor books about painting flowers - I discovered that she has several paintings and a tutorial in An Introduction to Flower Painting by Elizabeth Harden so I was thrilled and also inspired by the many great painters who are highlighted in the book, so I have spent the last several days painting flowers.

Lots to do today - I want to bake some cookies to put in the freezer to have with our after-dinner tea in the evenings, and I need to finish some projects for submission and DT work. My DH is almost recovered from his cold BUT guess who has caught it?! Yesterday I vegged a bit - finished a book, watched The Social Network (very good!), and then worked a little on a fabric mixed-media project.

It's been a very productive week for me!

Thanks for looking,
Chris

What's your favorite "favorite thing" challenge?

2011-04-15T07:00:00.004-04:00

It's amazing to think that http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ challenge blog is almost 2 years old! So our challenge this time at These are a few of my favorite things is for you to select your favorite challenge that we have had in the past, and show us a new take on it.
I love flowers (bet you couldn't guess that?!) and I decided to revisit one of our very first challenges with a new layout about my favorite flower - My DH always used to send me flowers at home, now brings me a bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day and my birthday, but the most fantastic time that he ever sent me flowers was when he sent me a bouquet on HIS birthday - he wrote on the card that I was his best present ever - swoon.........
I did this layout with the February Prima BAP sketch in mind, and all the components are Prima. I cut out and painted the heart and cupid (and added some butterfly wings to the cherub).
AND just so you know, here is the layout I did for the first What is your favorite flower challenge

Be sure to check out the other DT layouts and then create something to show us - a layout, a card, a project, whatever - we would love to see it! The prize is a gift certificate to Diana's etsy store!
Chris

Prima April picks and my take on them

2011-04-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

Here's my take on the April Prima picks - love the color mix of turquoise/aqua, peach, and pink

Here's their Prima picks page and below are some details of my layout

I used Sunny Day paper from the Fairy Flora Collection and laid my flowers on top of the printed ones. I painted some of the canvas flower and leaf Mistables with watercolor paint and then stitched the canvas to give it dimension.

I painted the big chiffon flower with aqua and lime in the center

I painted another scrap of Prima paper with soft blues and aquas and layered it under a Prima transfer and then used Prima letters (I like the funky look of the mixed alphas) for the title.

I'm off to link this to the Prima blog.
Chris

Jenni Bowlin Vintage challenge

2011-04-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

For this layout I used a vintage Easter postcard that I inherited from my grandmother (in a box with lots and lots of postcards), part of the March Jenni Bowlin kit (which I had gotten with my gift certificate that I had won - still have another one to spend - maybe on the tart tins???), some vintage ribbon (be sure to check it out - I love the puppy/bunny/clown design on it), a fabric flower that I made, machine stitching, and some paint.

Be sure to come back on April 15 for the newest These are a few of my favorite things challenge!
ttfn
Chris

No, I haven't fallen off the earth.......

2011-04-12T11:56:00.000-04:00

I am just trying to catch up on life after having been in a fantastic workshop all last week.

Right now.........

DH is sick with a cold (his first this whole winter season) and I am washing my hands and gargling with Listerine so I don't catch it (knock on wood!)

somewhat sad that we had to turn on the air conditioning this week (I love having the house open) but it has gotten to 90 during the day several days and the humidity is quite high. My hair had turned to frizz and we were feeling pretty miserable - Hana was not eating during the day at all. She is so funny - after I turned on the air, she started laying on a chair that is just below an a/c vent - what a spoiled little princess she is!!!!

Counting the cherry tomatoes on our bush and checking out the blossoms on the other tomato bush

Sketching heads and figures, and playing with my paints

Reading a wonderful book the Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Making reservations for my trip this summer to Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver (I can hardly wait!!!!!!)

And creating some new layouts and projects for submission and display

Hope you are having a super week!!!!
Chris

What's your favorite color?

2011-04-07T00:00:00.003-04:00

We are doing a special blog hop over at http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ and our challenge is revisiting an older challenge from when we first started in 2009 - what's your favorite color? For that older challenge, I did a layout in WHITE but right now I have to admit the GREEN/VERDE is my favorite color = perhaps because it's spring?!

I used a Prima mask and sprayed Lettuce Ranger color wash. The photo is a postcard that I bought when we were in Republica Dominicana about 10 years ago. The flowers and leaves are Prima, and the birds and ferns are K&co Botanical.

The journaling is the first lines of a poem called Romance Sonambulo by Federico Garcia Lorca - I used the original Spanish as I think poems are always better in the language in which they were written but the English translation is, " Green , how I want you green/ Green wind. Green branches." It's a really wonderful poem - here's a link to it.

Hope you check out the hop!
Chris

A few watercolor sketches from the workshop

2011-04-06T07:00:00.003-04:00

I am taking a workshop this week taught by the fantastic Janet Rogers - Expressive Florals and Portraits. We have just had two days of painting fresh flowers (see my sketches above) and now we will have two days of painting portraits. I am learning so much and having so much fun - what could be better?!?!

Hope you are having a great week!
Chris

Today...........

2011-04-02T11:12:00.000-04:00

I made Lemon Squares for DH's birthday!!!! Happy happy!!!!!

I painted in my sketchbook - see above and below

I worked at the gift shop and ran errands

I randomly picked a winner for the Cheesecake Factory gift card for the Paperissues blog hop -------

PEACHY LAURA
Please email me at kalaiton at hotmail dot com with your snail mail address and I will mail you the card.
Hope you are having a super day! the weather here is positively spectacular!!!!!!!!!!
Chris

Gecko Galz for April - a tribute to my Mother

2011-04-01T07:00:00.002-04:00

I know that this is a bit early for Mother's Day but really everyday is Mother's Day -

I used Gecko Galz Tudor Rose Hampton Court paper and M is for Mother ephemera. I created the base by scrunching tissue paper and then layering it on cardstock and painting with gesso. After it dried, I sprayed it with Glimmer mists that sort of continued the look of the Gecko Galz paper. I cut out the ephemera and layered it along with Prima flowers around a photograph of my mother and me.

Next week I will be taking a 4-day watercolor workshop from Janet Rogers, a national teacher and painter. I am so so excited!!!! I have scheduled some posts as I know that I will be exhausted every evening.

Hope you have a fun April Fool's Day and a great weekend!

Happenings in the studio - Right now!

2011-03-28T11:08:00.000-04:00

Right now......
I am enjoying these beautiful roses that my DH brought home to me on Saturday.
I am mailing in a request for the marriage license for my first marriage many years ago - just can't find it and I absolutely positively have to have it to renew my driver's license - to prove I am ME - the ID requirements to get or renew a license in Florida are absolutely onerous and insane. There was a story in the newspaper Satuday about a 72 year old woman having to produce a marriage license from 50+ years ago
I am enjoying the much much needed rain that we got this morning
I am working on a big project for submission

I usually work on my ironing board as I have to stand to create, and the height is just perfect

I am obsessed with painting with lots of color right

I am finishing a small sewing project

I have my desk fairly tidy right now

I have all of my scrapping and paper crafting supplies stored in their bin and in these few containers that you can see on the bookcase. I have weeded down to absolute essentials! and only a very few manufacturers.

I have finished a very funky project that cannot be shown yet.

Hope your week is going well and thanks for reading,
Chris

My Core’dinations Creative Frenzy

2011-03-27T07:14:00.001-04:00

I love Core'dinations cardstock pure and simple; I love the clear bright colors, the weight and texture of the paper, and the brilliant embossed papers that just beg to be distressed. The first layout I created during my frenzy was done with 3 pieces of Core'dinations CoreColor Cardstock - brown, a soft yellow, and a royal blue. I threw acrylic paint at the background and added some Prima ribbons, a Maya road flower, Jenni Bowlin butterflies and journal card, October Afternoon alphas, and some feathers and buttons, and of course, the wonderful vintage children that I cut from an old book that was falling apart. I finally stitched around the edges with my sewing machine.

The next layout also consists of 3 sheets of Core'dinations, two of which are from the Jenni Bowlin Whitewash collection. On this layout I also used some Jenni Bowlin patterned paper; October Afternoon alphas, sticker, and paper; Prima flower and butterfly; Pink Paislee alphas, Martha Stewart doily, Liberty fabric, and vintage lace dyed in coffee.

As always, I love to layer (can you imagine how thick my albums are?!)

Finally, the third layout is a simple one - I love this photo of my niece laughing and enjoying a game of chalk hopscotch on the driveway, and I wanted the eye to focus on her sweet smile. I used 2 pieces of Core'dinations Whitewash on this one, sanding and then throwing a little acrylic paint at them. The patterned paper, larger alphas, and banner are Sassafrass, and the the other alphas are October Afternoon. I made the flower by hand ruching fabric and added the buttons in the center and some long pins. The porcelain buttons are from my collection.

Hope you like these - I had so much fun creating them!
Chris

Orchids again

2011-03-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, that I said I was going to move away from painting flowers - well, I started going to a painting group on Wednesday mornings, and one of my friends had some photos of orchids so........

One thing that I always find fascinating is how many different ways and versions painters can paint the same subject. My friend and I often paint the same subject but our styles and color senses are so very different that our paintings look very different. We want to have one group session in which everyone paints the same subject - won't that be fun to see all the variations?!

Gotta run - I'm working at the used book store today.
Chris

Prima March BAP

2011-03-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I guess you know by now that I am a huge Prima fan and love to try the Build a page sketches, but this one I just don't know about....... I wasn't super fond of the sketch and I have to admit that the Moulin Rouge papers are not my favs -- but they were the only ones purchased by the lss that I visited when I visited my son earlier this month. We don't have a lss and I really hate to purchase online - I want to see things IRL and also there's always the shipping cost. Anyway....

I used a Prima mask and sprayed 2 colors of glimmer mist, and then sprayed a white Prima flower with mist also. I layered several different flowers on top of each other

and added these little pendants that I made with wire and seaglass that I had collected in Trinidad

I then layed lots of laces - Prima and vintage - to create the look of water or waves - to go with the photo of my nieces. I am going to try to take another photo of the layout in different light (to get rid of the strange glare) before I send it to Prima.

Thanks for looking,
Chris

Right now...........

2011-03-23T15:53:00.000-04:00

Right now.........

I am enjoying some of my delicious homemade bread and cinnamon rolls

Marveling that the poinsettia that I had on our dining room table at Christmas is still in bloom on my lanai

Watching Hana get a "much needed" nap on the ironing board - it's like she becomes this mountain lion on a cliff or a panther in a tree - she loves to sleep on the ironing board

Scrapping like a fiend

Hope you are having as much fun as I am today!

thanks for reading,
Chris

Prima picks and my take on it

2011-03-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Check out the beautiful green palette of the Prima picks for this month - so spring-y!!!!!!!!

And here is my take on the Prima color pick - I created the background paper by painting watercolor paper with cream and white acrylic paint, then stamping very lightly with a Prima clear stamp in Ranger vintage photo distress ink. Then I traced around a Prima mask with pencil and filled it in with white acrylic paint. I used a Prima package for the frame for the photo of a calla lily that I took in the Biltmore green houses. I created the giant flower by painting a white Prima flower with green watercolor paint, spraying a piece of wide Prima lace, 2 Prime Love note botanical flowers, and 2 Prima butterflies with Ranger color wash in lettuce. The flower is constructed of 5 layers, and the big butterfly is glued on the top of a crocheted Prima flower. The leaves are Prima as are the other smaller underlying flowers (I cut one of the tulle flowers in half). The laces are Prima. The quotation is by Katherine Hepburn, and I thought it was perfect because, well, calla lilies are strange-looking flowers!

I really enjoyed creating the background paper and while doing this one, ended up with several more that you will be seeing on future layouts.

If you are here for the http://paperissues.blogspot.com/ blog hop, go to http://chrisaiton.blogspot.com/2011/03/paperissues-blog-hop.html

Thanks for reading
Chris

Girl Camelot Challenge

2011-03-21T07:00:00.003-04:00

I don't participate in many challenges any more but when I read Cynthia's Girl Camelot Challenge, I just had to join in. With the color palette and Cynthia's little inspirational tips about flowers, garden parties, and, of course, the fabulous mid-century fashion, I knew that I wanted to use a photo of my mother dressed in a simple sheer spring dress. She has a flower at her waist and wonderful high heeled sandals. I used a vintage paper rose, a Prima sprig, and a vintage brooch from my collection. The colors are so clean and crisp.

I too love the simple and classic beauty of mid-century fashion - pearls, pure colors, simple lines - just so refreshing!

Playing with paint and happy Ostara

2011-03-20T07:30:00.001-04:00

Watercolor paint is such fun (but frustrating) to play with - I never cease to be amazed and awed by the way the colors mix, mingle, and blend on the paper

Sometimes the paint colors kiss, sometimes they mate, and sometimes they fight but the winner is always a bit changed by the loser.
AND then, there's always the challenge that Mother Nature provides

how can I ever begin to create such vivid colors as these - SHE is a master painter!

Joy to you on this Vernal Equinox!

Tulips on my table - another sign of Spring!

If you are here for the bloghop, go to http://chrisaiton.blogspot.com/2011/03/paperissues-blog-hop.html
ttfn
Chris