Sunday, January 30, 2011

Haiden Flies!

Today my brother John and Wendy (his wife) and one of their twins, Haiden went to a place called "iFLY Hollywood" and they did a little "flying"....

This is my niece Haiden (age 5 1/2) up in the air in the wind tunnel that is set up so that people can experience "flying" without having to muster up the courage to jump from a plane. It is AMAZING! She volunteered to be the first one in the group of adults to give it a try. According to John, she gave everyone a "high five" when she came down from her flight.

AWESOME!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Los Angeles

Friday morning breakfast...with blueberries. Isn't it cool that the little "flowers" show up when the milk is poured in?
This is a little bit of embroidery that I have been working on as a possibility for teaching in March. I am not satisfied with the design yet, though.....needs a little more work.

Here is a doll that my niece Haiden and I made a couple of years ago. She drew the face and I stitched it up. I made one for her sister, Cece, too, but could not find it to take a picture. They certainly have special personalities! (the dolls and the girls)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

yummy book!

do you know this book?
I really find it to be such a great inspiration.
thought I'd share a couple of the photos with you.....

I adore this red on white.....(above)
and the horse (below)
lovely collar - thinking of YOU, Sam, and your girls..

I think that these pillow cases are very Scandinavian, don't you ladies in Sweden?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Cutting Paper

Last night I picked up the scissors and this is what I did:

Pretty exciting when it comes out like I see it in my head....
Guess I have said that before, but it still amazes me and makes me smile...
.....and that is worth it....

One more smile was when I realized that as I took the photo of the actual cut-out, the shadow on the floor was right there lookin' pretty good, too.
I love surprises like that!

Friday, January 21, 2011

NaNcY!!!

Got a call this afternoon from my pal, Nancy, who has a broken back window in her car.
She remembered that when I had a broken window, I covered it with a decorated panel that she LOVED! So, she came over after work and we made a great panel for her back window.

Here's Nancy in her little car with a BIG "owie"

And here is the panel that we wrote all over, using words that inspire and motivate us... and hopefully everyone who reads them! Drive carefully, Nance!

Spread "the word" and spread the LOVE!
It will never be too much - ever!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Valentine Pop-Up

One of the classes that I will be teaching at Los Poblanos in early February (the 6th) is a combination of three Valentines. The first two are little Paper Pockets, though I haven't done samples of them yet.
The third project is a Pop-Up Valentine Card and today I made a couple of samples.

First I punched out some flowers from paper that I had stamped randomly all over with some of my heart stamps. I think they make great patterns for the little blossoms.

The first heart is cut from another randomly stamped piece of paper. There is a little "pocket" cut into the heart and then (below) you add a few stems with blossoms that will "pop" out when you open the card.
stamped the word "LOVE" with a few stamps

The second sample heart card is cut from "plaid" cardstock......... Fun, isn't it?

It would be a blast to have you ALL here to play with.... maybe one of these days...
Hope you are finding time to do some creating yourselves!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Valentine Decor

hmmmmm, pretty small photo, but it gets larger if you click on it...
This is my mantel for the next few weeks...
Took down the Christmas and added some hearts and hands and RED stuff.
I know that it will continue to evolve over the next three or four weeks...
.....just can't sit still...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Penny's Kitchen

This morning, I drove down to ABQ to show Penny the drawings for the tiles that she would like to have behind her stovetop. I painted them to scale and cut them out to see what they would look like with a little grout line.
We taped it up above the stove and stood back to check it out.
I took a photo:

I was so happy that Penny liked what she saw.
Below is a close-up of the drawing/painting....I think it will be pretty cool on tile:

A good day - talking about changes to the tiles, meeting with Nancy about upcoming workshops at Los Poblanos (stay tuned) and lunch with Penny - yum! ...all good.......

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Last night Cullen and I witnessed something that I have never had the chance to see before.

For the last three weeks, Tibetan monks have been in Santa Fe creating this extraordinary sand mandala. I was able to see them last year as they carefully (painstakingly) and slowly "tapped" the colored sand into these amazing designs. I did not see them this year, but last night we went to the closing ceremony for the mandala.
After much chanting and music (45 minutes, about) the monks "brushed away" this beauty they had created. It was surely a lesson in "letting go" the material things in life.

This is the mandala before the ceremony.
You can't imagine the detail these monks get with grains of sand.

I think that this photo captures the detail better than the other photos I took.
I felt a little conspicuous taking photos, though I was not alone.

More detail of one small corner.
If you click on this photo, you can see the "topography" of the sand.
The monks carefully tap out the sand, over and over, to create tiny mounds of sand.
It is incredibly effective.

The image in this photo was one of four - each opposing the other.
The background color behind the orange "figure" in the middle was different in each.
The scale of this is difficult to describe to you....
The orange figure with green dotted scallops was approx 4" square
Truly incredible...

Above, is the center of the mandala.
To each of four directions from the center, the design extended to the edge of the circle.
Putting together all of my photos, you can get an idea of the pattern.

These are the Tibetan monks who produced the breathtaking mandala. Here they are making music and chanting during the ceremony. The low guttural sounds they are capable of making is almost in-human. The monk just two over from the drum seemed to be the leader of the chanting. He had muscles on the sides of his neck that worked so hard as he chanted and sang. It was fascinating to watch them milk the sound from his being. The horns and trumpet-like instruments sounded so unusual that one might think them annoying if taken out of context.
The drum was painted beautifully and had an odd sort of drumstick - curved in a way that reminded me of Dr Seuss. I guess the hats had a bit of that, too. Still, the entire celebration was an experience I am glad I was able to have.

As they finished the chanting and music, one monk came forward and walked around the table several times, ringing a bell (representing female) in his left hand and a dorje (small barbell-looking "thunderbolt" representing the male) in his right. He then dropped a flower in the center of the mandala and began to pick up small grains of sand from four directions and drop them on the flower. From there, he used his pinkie finger to run from the edge of the mandala to the center, wiping away the pattern in four directions. Then, he repeated that motion in-between each of the four directions to the center. After that, he walked back to the other monks. Another monk walked to the center with brush and very methodically brushed away the sand - four directions first, then in-between each of those and between those til the entire mandala was brushed clean.
I was interested in the motions each monk made to "clear" the sand..... very meticulous and definite. The entire celebration was moving and thoughtful.

I hope I can take what I saw and utilize it in my own life. Learning to "let go" and move forward is a good thing. It can be hard to become attached to things and watch them just ... disappear.
I need to learn to not be attached to everything I come in contact with. (maybe I should start to by cleaning out my closet!) I think it will take some thought and planning to get this under my skin, but I need to make the effort..... something fresh.