Color for a rainy day

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/OTA1NDkzMXwyNzIwMTg0MzM3/color-for-a-rainy-day

Some beautiful things for your home from some of my etsy favorites...I need some color on this cold and wet day.

cool magazine

This is the magazine that had the embroidery article. I read it today during my break.

embroidery and photography

My friend loaned me this art magazine called "Elephant", and it had an article about embroidery's role in contemporary art. So I'm not the only one : ) Found this amazing photographer/embroidery artist--Melissa Zexter. Amazing.

New Pillow

I got my new pack of fabrics from Umbrella Prints and started a new design today. I cut a new paper cut, and will use the fabrics in a similar fashion, but I think I will change the canvas colors, for more contrast. It's fun to have a couple of things going at once...

Stitching

Some close-ups of the stitching. I started out drawing the lines and then pre-poking the holes, but finally realized I can do it as I go. More fun that way and the lines are more spontaneous. This is going to take a while.

40

Today was my 40th birthday. I have been dreading it since my last birthday,  but somehow I made it through unscathed. The kids woke me up with fun little gifts, and then they went off to school and Craig and I spent the day together. We did a great yoga class today. I haven't done ashtanga in a while, so I was a little nervous. The teacher was great--I highly recommend Pure Prana in Old Town, Alexandria....Also went to The Kreeger Museum on Foxhall Rd., in DC. It was beautiful. This Braque painting was my favorite; so many different patterns, and a very interesting pallette. A great way to spend the day. Allison Krauss tomorrow.

New Work

Still waiting on the new scraps to come from Umbrella Prints in Australia. Today, I pulled out the papers I bought in Asheville last week and opened my sketchbook to a crayon drawing I did of a riverbed in Cherokee. I was frustrated with my inability to capture the actual colors to my liking, so I scrapped my first drawing, and went a little "fauve", and used contrasting bright colors, and just focused on the shapes. It was a fun drawing to make. I am recreating the drawing in paper, and plan to using thread stitching to highlight certain aspects, and add texture. The process is very similar to my fabric piecing process, which helps. It will be interesting to see how the stitching looks on the collage. Finished the paper piecing...thinking about metallic thread...

Happy Easter!

This morning, the Easter Bunny left a trail of these cuties straight the Easter baskets.

Virginia Mountians Farewell

The last night we stayed in Natural Bridge, VA. We got there around 5 pm--just in time for the boys to run around a bit in the woods. We stayed in a "deluxe" campsite with a deck, fire pit, swing and grill. It was nice for the last night. The sun was setting over the hills when I took this picture--so beautiful. We finally got a group shot of the entire family taken by the nice man in the RV next door.... We are home. What a great trip. Being in such a small place makes you realize how little you really need. And coming home made me realize how much I appreciate my beautiful home. It's small, but huge compared to an RV...Back to school tomorrow. Excited to play around with my sketches from the trip.

Leaving Cherokee

Home sweet home.

Their favorite place.

Fun bikes we rented.

Tanner's "best s'more ever".

Yum.

Up early this morning, so that we can get on the road. Heading back to VA today, but taking the highway, not the Blue Ridge. It was beautiful,  but it takes so long. We are going as far as Lexington/Natural Bridge. Hopefully we will get there in time to enjoy some of the sights...A few parting shots.

Fishing, Bouncing, Swimming, mini-golf...

The kids had a blast yesterday. There is so much to do here, and so many kids. They made a bunch of friends, and don't ever want to leave.

Mountain Trees

I am taken by the trees. There are these bright green pointy trees, contrasted by other more nondescript trees; they create the incredibly patterned landscape that surrounds us.  I painted a little today; just having fun.

Asheville Proper

Tanner checks out a small guitar, handmade in Asheville.

Gavin refused to be in the picture.

We spent the day in Asheville yesterday. Such a cool city--it reminded Craig and I of Victoria, BC--very artsy, tie-dyes everywhere, street musicians, etc. Wish we could have spent a little more time. I bought some paper at an art store for collage--maybe I will get some use out of it this week. We arrived at our campsite last night at 7pm. It's in the middle of the Cherokee reservation; the mountain views are beautiful. Right now it's blue sky sunny--hopefully it will stay that way.

am wake-up call

The ducks came calling this morning for some bread.

Ashville

The view from the Blue Ridge Parkway

View from our RV at Ashville Campsite

The fishermen

Beautiful ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  So pretty, but glad to be in North Carolina. Hope to get out some materials tomorrow. No sewing this trip; I brought watercolors, crayons, and markers. Enough to get some ideas down on paper. The kids are fishing right now, and I am sitting with my parents in our folding chairs by the Swannannoa (sp?) River. Very relaxing.

keeping the kids busy

Gavin added bananas for the deer to eat--we are passing deer on the road as we are drawing.

I asked Gavin to draw a guy and his tent in the woods.

Tanner does his own thing with shapes and lines.

Played this fun game on the road yesterday with the boys. First I drew a picture and Gavin had to color it (1st pic). Then he drew a picture for me to color (2nd). Then Tanner drew one and we all worked on it together. Killed an hour.

Fancy Gap

We have finally come to the end of a fun, but long 1st day of our trip to Ashville, NC and the Smokies. The RV is great, but definitely takes some getting used to---we quickly realized that anything not secure would go flying. After spilling all the water out of the Keurig, and then two more lesser spills, we finally got smart and stuck everything in the sink or on the floor, or even the shower; anywhere where it wouldn't kill someone...Skyline and the Blue Ridge Parkway are breathtaking. We stopped a bunch of times to take it all in and even played a little frisbee. We hoped to get to Ashville tonight, but didn't realize how much longer it would take going 45 mph on switchbacks. We canceled the Ashville campsite and are staying in Fancy Gap, VA. Ready to sleep. Excited to get to our destination tomorrow and settle in.