Cleaning

 Cleaning

        Looks like I need to clean.  There are cobwebs all over the house.  Trying to get a few more things done before the fair.  The fair is here, less than two weeks.  Back to work.

Shopping

Shopping

     I stopped into the local hardware store to pick something up.  As I rounded the corner I seen this beautiful creature.  Don't know what hubby would do if I brought home a pet, but it's was very tempting.  

 

Three

 Three

      I chose three of my "trippy," Chameleon, blendable markers.  Red, green and yellow.  Red and green are complementary colors, to obtain the darker shadows.  First I colored in the underpainting (highlights and shadows), then filled in the colors.

Challenge

 Challenge

        I'm working on an art challenge.  The requirements are to use, only, three markers.  I decided to draw one of my coneflowers, growing in the flower bed.  

Rufous

 Rufous

  I made a card for Jan's, birthday.  She had a mean, o'l rufous hummingbird, scaring away her calliope hummers.  I can tell when they are around, just by the sound of their wings.  They have a low, drown sound.

Joining

 Joining

     Slowly, joining the two rows.  I'm glad I tatted, most of the motifs first.  Doing so, kept the next row from twisting.

Heart

 Heart

      Hubby bought me a drawing/colored pencil book, to improve my drawing ability.  It's called "You can Draw! Simple Techniques for Realistic Drawings," by Leonardo Pereznieto.  I marked a few things I wanted to try.  One of the first things I wanted to draw was the heart necklace.  Here is my heart.  I love these new pencils!  They are the same size lead that comes in the drawing pencils, but I don't have all the wood shavings to worry about.

Pencils

 Pencils

       Once of my neighbors had given me some drawing supplies for my birthday.  The set of lead holders have a sharpener, built into the removable,  cap of the pencil.  The lead size is 2 mm, strong enough not to break.  Now to try them out.

New

 New

      A tatting friend had given me a copy of Ewa Wasyliszyn's new book, "Tatting Colours - Travels."  The patterns are gorgeous! The colors of the doily, imitates the places she has visited.  I'll start working on this book, after the fair.

Drought

 Drought

     We are having drought, up here in north Idaho.   It's been, unusally hot also.  In the 90's and 100's.  We managed to pick three cups of huckleberries.

Cover

 Cover

    I went to the thrift store, looking for heavy fabric.  I came across a couple of placemats.  They weren't completely the same size, but I didn't care, I loved the look of them.  The cover I was making is for myself.

I love the way the front came out.

Wow, that drawing isn't that great.  This was my first colored pencil drawing.  I drew this, the beginning, of last year.

Outer

 Outer

     I'm still working on my doily.  I have two rounds to go.  Since the last round is composed of 24 motifs, I decided to tat most of them first.  This way, I'm not putting too much stress on the doily.  I tatted 19 motifs and now starting to sandwich the rows together.

Sally

 Sally

     About a year ago, we all went to Spar Lake.  While there, Sally came to say hi (beg for food).  She look like she had packed on the weight or maybe pregnant again.  Here she is, begging for food.

We caught a few mackinaw. 

Another Attempt at the Trolly Mat Pattern

Another Attempt at the Trolly Mat Pattern

     When a pattern is written out, I like to diagram it.  While tatting this pattern, I wasn't paying close attention to my pattern.  So I messed up the third row again.  This mess up I love and left it.  I added too many clover leaves.  They weren't supposed to be attached to the chains.  The pattern is called "Motif Trolley Mat", found in Tatting book 5, by Penolpe.  The thread was Lizbeth, size 80 in Wildflower Garden.

      This little coin box was in a box of stuff I had gotten at an estate sale.  I am a TEA drinker NOT a COFFEE drinker, so I had to do something to the front of the box.

 The inside with my yard selling money.

 

    The new and improved box.  I used an acetate film to protect the tatting.  I just love the way the motif came out!

 

Box

Box

     I out-grew my changeable earring box and needed a larger one.  This tin was given to me by my parents.  The embellishments glow in the dark.

Cross

 Cross

      I was looking for a challenging, cross pattern and came across Muskann's "Magic Square Cross," pattern.  This one was just, up my alley...this demands attention!  After the third try, I finally settled down and got the rhythm.  This cross was for my "Church Mom's," birthday.

Ruby-Throated

 Ruby-Throated 

     My little sister's birthday is today.  I had made her a ruby-throated hummingbird card.  This is the only hummingbird in Iowa.

Happy Birthday, baby sister.  Love you.

Pets

 Pets

     I was cleaning out the old, craft show tub and removing all the packaging material for the farmers market.  I came across a container full of rock pets.  I have room on my market table and put them out for the kids.  These were a great hit then and still are...even for us big kids.  They make me giggle, every time I set them out.

Bracelet

 Bracelet

     To go with Val's card, I made her a swallow-tailed humming bird bracelet.

 

Swallowtail

 Swallowtail

        A dear friend is moving, so I had to make her a going away card.  I was looking for a hummingbird that would suit her.  She is from Brazil and one of the Brazilian hummingbirds is the swallowtail hummingbird.  

Love you Val, I'll miss you.