Craft Day with Friends

Last Saturday was a beautiful day... our Autumn weather was gorgeous and my day was Blessed with the gathering of friends at my home.  We spent the day creating art, enjoying good food & wine and sharing lots of heart-smiles & laughter!

     I offered two optional Halloween/Autumn projects to create.
Most everyone also brought a project of their own to work.

The first project was creating a mixed media canvas art

Gail

Marj

 Me

My canvas base got done, but it still needs other textures, hum... what?

Lyndi

Nora

Missed getting a photo with Lee holding her canvas art... this is her canvas art.

These Autumn art canvases are wonderful, don't you agree?

Our second project was decorating vintage felt mini witches hats

Gail

Lee

Marj

(Oh goodness, Marj had me almost in tears laughing!)

Lee & Marj

Nora

Beth

Beth working on her own project of 'pinnies'.  I love her work, always beautiful!  

Darn, I totally overlooked snapping a photo of another textile piece Beth brought with her.  She is combining swatches of vintage textiles together with stitchery/embroidery.  She had us each sign this piece and date it.  I can hardly wait to see its finale!  

I signed my name & date and wrote Blessings and Joy... just what this day of friendship brought us.

Blessings and Joy to you!

Mother's Memory Wreath

In June I attended Karla Nathan's Bird Song III event.
One of our projects was a lovely tag wreath class taught by Lori Oles .

Lori recycled cardboard boxes (I think she used unused pizza boxes) to cut out our wreath forms.  She then provided us with several ephemera items, laces, fabrics and taught us how to use templates with modeling paste to create depth and textures.

I saved Lori's ephemera items to use on a different project and chose to create a Memory Wreath for my mother.  

I knew I would not complete my wreath in class as I wanted to take it home and add pieces that reflected my mother.

Recently I did complete my Mom's Memory Wreath

 Some of the Mother's pins were pins she helped me collect.

 She loved Iris flowers and was Irish!
The cross and the inscribed brass tag of the Lord's Prayer remind me of her! 

 She was a devout Christian - she loved our Lord Jesus - she was a Prayer Warrior
She passed away in 2006 - I miss her.

 

Autumn is in the Air

Autumn is my favorite season!

While our temperatures are cool and the smell of Autumn is faintly in the air, around here only a few trees are changing their colors.  I am so hoping for a long season of Colorful trees!  After all Autumn is a season isn't it?  Why is it we usually only have 3 or 4 weeks of beautiful tree colors and not a full season of them?
 

" I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as Autumnal sunshine by staying in the house"

                                                Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks

I worked some this morning trimming overgrown ivy in our yard.  It was a beautiful morning!  Belle insisted I play soccer with her rather than work.  We played a bit of soccer and fetch before she started stealing the branches I had collected for our wood pile.  It was time for me to go back my trimming, and Belle was content to lay outside and soak up the warm sunshine.  

Inside I've decorated for Halloween & Autumn

Off now to an estate sale on it's final day... hoping to find 1/2 price treasures!

What are you doing today?

Halloween Felt Book

I recently unpacked my boxes of Halloween and Autumn decor.  One item I came across was my felt book I made last year at Karla Nathan's Romantic Gothic Ghost event.   

I packed it away last year without sharing photos of it, so today I want to share it with you

This class was taught by Beth Leintz .  Beth provided us with this wonderful oatmeal-colored wool felt, various images, trims and taught us some layering techniques.
I brought my book home and finished it with additional materials.  

A fun and creative idea for holiday decor.