Camera --- lost (then found!!)

Well, my husband didn't actually have the camera --- we left it in a little shop in Santa Fe returning from a Taos trip with my brother-in-law and his wife! It took a while, but after re-tracing our steps, we finally figured out where it was!! WHEW!!! We had a lot of great pics on it, and here are some from the visit.

My daughter, Tracy and my sister-in-law, Tracy in our favorite gallery.

We watched one of my daughter's quartet rehearsals.

Having a margarita at a bar in Taos.

My brother-in-law manages a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and he got us a great deal at the resort in Taos. It was so beautiful!! The above picture is us at the resort bar. The visit went by too fast, and we had a great time. Wish we could see them more often.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of some papers (some from catalogs and some handpainted book pages). My niece is coming over tomorrow and we'll make something together! She's a junior in high school --- very creative and artistic. Stay tuned and you'll see what comes of our time together!

I need my camera!!

My husband has been testing his project at work, and has had the camera, so I have been unable to post any pictures --- ugh! Frustrating. Anyway, I have pictures of my brother-in-law's visit and new projects I've been working on, so bear with me. They'll be up soon. I'm still here (and busy!!), so stay tuned......

Short trip to Santa Fe

My husband was off work Friday, so we took a short one-day trip to Santa Fe before the cold, wet weather came in for the weekend.




The day was a little chilly, but full of color and as beautiful as always. We travel to Santa Fe often just for short little outings with delicious mexican food.

My brother-in-law and his wife are coming in tonight for a week; we haven't seen them in so long. I can hardly wait! I will post pics when I can.

And....I will leave you with a picture of my daughter (on the right) and her cousins at our family dinner last night. Three beauties for sure.

Finally spring!

Well, after almost blowing everything to Timbuktu this past weekend (with chilly temps to boot), spring is back today in all its glory. The flowers are especially beautiful reminding us to not lose hope! This is a shrub near our home; I love the lavender flowers against the sage green leaves.

Since the weather wasn't too cooperative for outdoor things, I was able to work on several art projects. Two of them were small canvases ---5" x 5". I had fun with them, for sure. There sure is something about cutting and pasting that brings me great pleasure and makes me feel little all over again (but I guess that what art's all about, isn't it?). I call this first one 'Little Bear.'

Here's a close-up of how much fun I had with the detail!


This next one I call 'True.'

More close-up fun!

I love this next collage!! I call it 'Early Girl." It's not on a canvas; it was done on paper. I didn't plan this one out either; she just became.

I love her! The background page came from and OLD foreign dictionary I got at an estate sale. I don't even know what language it's in! But it makes her look a little foreign too, I suppose. And her arms and legs were cut from the postage part of the those annoying mail-in subscription cards that fall out every time you open a magazine (grrrrrrr). Who knew there could be a use for those pesky things?

Well, I'm off. Better catch up on some yard things while I can!

New stuff!

They're beautiful, aren't they? Who doesn't love new crayons!?? My darling daughter and I had lunch together today and, afterwards, we walked over to the art store. I had heard all about water soluble crayons and seen them used, but never tried them myself. I had to get some!! Here's a background I was goofing around with, using my new crayons!! So cool, huh? (I am very excited.) I love them, to say the least.


Okay, on to more new stuff!

We have a new bedroom! Will (my sweet husband) and I have been re-doing our bedroom. We wanted this room to be special, and somewhere we loved being. It started with the wall color. Then the pastel painting: we bought it at an art studio tour in Abiqui, here in NM --- it was raining and muddy. This particular artist had her work displayed in a tent outside, with some of her art directly on the ground! I don't think she realized how talented she was, and that she should have been displaying her art respectfully and delicately. We had a difficult time even getting the art to the car, because it was raining so hard. When we got it home, we framed it immediately. Isn't the frame perfect?!! Anyway, we realized that it had to be part of the central theme. After we ordered the bed frame, I spotted the quilt and shams, and everything fell into place. We're still not finished, but here it is so far. I'm so happy. (By the way, only a real man can be okay with a doll on his bed!!)

Completed Frida pouch

It's finished!! I thought it turned out quite well, if I do say so myself (especially since it's my first one!). The zipper was longer than the bag, so that was a bit of a challenge, but I'll figure it out. I'm sure there are some tutorials on the web to help me too :)
Where has our spring gone? We woke up to SNOW this morning, and it's 20 degrees below normal today --- BRRRRRRRR! Hope all the new little blossoms survive. It's a stay inside kinda day and that's okay with me. Maybe I'll get some stuff done, for pete's sake!

Frida pouch

I love zip pouches, and I've never made one before. So this is my first attempt. There was a rubber stamp show here two weekends ago, and I found this beautiful Frida stamp. This is the first time I've ever used a machine with wool felt, so we'll see how it turns out!
Sewing is another love of mine. I've been sewing since I was pretty little. My mom taught me, and she was a great teacher. She sewed all of my clothes (and my twin sister's) growing up, and it always intrigued me. She even sewed all my Barbie clothes!! Wow, impressive, Mom!!!