It’s a new year

Winter has arrived, the bare trees are silhouetted against a stormy sky…

 

 

The snow is falling…

 

It’s time to head inside, sit by the wood stove...

 

and stay warm!

 

Happy New Year!

The sixteen days of Christmas

Where Women Create blog is giving away some beautiful things for Christmas – check it out and sign up!

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from Arizona! 

 

It’s snowing golden leaves…

The Cottonwoods are golden and the air is crisp, time to start decorating the tree… 

 

With an angel on top…

 

Find Santa around the house …

 

Bake pies…

 

And set out the Mexican hot chocolate and cookies…

 

Here are some vintage images to enjoy…

 

 

 

 

Time to get back to the studio and work on Christmas presents, Merry Christmas!

Christmas blog party!

Save the date! Bella Dreams is having a holiday blog party on December 5th – join in, it will be such fun!

New old stuff

I have a job that occasionally requires a lot of my time and then I go and take a class in payroll accounting - so poor me! no time to spend in my studio. Just spreadsheets, journal entries, withholding tables and tax forms. But I did take some time out for the Jerome Humane Society's semi-annual rummage sale and here are some finds:

pretty Japanese teacups

an English teapot

enamel dishes, lots of old jewelry to re-purpose

a fierce Indonesian? puppet

and a needlepoint pillow to "Victorian up" with tassels and fringes and all that. The money from the sale benefits animals - so lots of great stuff for a good cause.

A nice surprise

After a tiring day at work I arrived home to find a package at the door, it looked like a book but I hadn't ordered anything - so I opened the box and found this very nice book from Bead & Button magazine -

Inside is an article for earrings I designed that originally appeared in this issue of Bead & Button

How nice to see it in a hardbound book with all the other lovely projects

Here are some close ups of the earrings - I call these my "specimen" pictures - they're not very interesting photos, I just pin 'em to a card and shoot.

The center beads are 12 mm, 8 mm and fire polish drops.

Fairy in jar, continued . . .

A fairy stopped by - just long enough for me to take her picture and then she flew off. I guess the jar is working!

Fairy in a jar . . .

I've noticed a lot of people have captured fairies in decorated jars; while it must be nice to always have a fairy around, I don't like to see creatures in cages - so - I thought I'd decorate a jar and see if a fairy would move in. Totally free to come and go, maybe just hang around the studio for a bit -

Lots of glitter and sparkle, pretty flowers and some rhinestones - I'd like to move in! Now it's time to be quiet and wait.

Oak Creek Canyon

Between Flagstaff and Sedona there's a magical place called Oak Creek Canyon; the creek flows through a land of red rocks and limestone cliffs. Hawks soar overhead, ravens caw from huge cottonwoods, pines, oaks and sycamores. Come for a stroll through a meadow dotted with apple trees...

a forest of tall pines...

stop by the creek...

see golden rocks in under the trees...

limestone cliffs...

and big red rocks...

lots of big red rocks...

and a misty evening farewell from Coffee Pot Rock!
Soon the fall colours will fill the canyon and it'll be time for another visit.

This blog needs a banner...

The first step: print the letters on card stock, then paint with an airbrush.

Tissue paper and foam core for the background -

Lots of glue for texture, then paint, more glue, more paint

The letters on their background with sparkly trim and red paper lace edging -

The test photo; I like the background but it's not what I'm looking for - maybe I'll use it next spring. Fall is just around the corner, my favorite season, and time for pumpkins and black cats!

Remember that tidy studio? Here's the reality - I do clean up between projects.

Creative Bloggers

Thank you to all who visited! What a lovely experience - many thanks to Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage for being such a gracious hostess.