Saturday, March 26, 2011

Rainy Spring Day

Today was a rather cold gray spring day. I chose not to leave the house. Instead, I slept in, payed bills, did laundry, watched basketball and planned a graduation party for my hubby getting his Masters. I wanted to use this day to be crafty. I never get as much done as I want to but, I did put yellow edge on a few more granny squares. I love the first two rows that I put together way too early. There are other blocks I haven't even began, I generally don't move forward in my processes until the last task is finished. However, I always have multiple projects going on at once. I think that habit actually holds me back in creative exploration sometimes..I'll finish this someday!
I also found time today to make this skirt out of fabric I bought last summer. I had always pictured a skirt like this when I first laid eyes on this fabulous print. This fabric is way out of my general clothing color scheme. I tend to lean towards natural colors. for summer I will venture out of that box. I made it a bubble hem, It makes the hem look a little crazy in the photo. I used a heavier black fabric as the lining and cut it 5 inch shorter than the print.  The waist line band is cut from a super thick stretchy knit. I have used this black knit for multiple clothing applications, this was the last scrap. Looks like I might have to take a trip to Mary Jo's to get more. I look for any reason to go to Mary Jo's!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Yard Art

I found all of this glass in the new part of my backyard over the last few months. They sat in an old strawberry basket muddy and neglected for too long. I have had grand intentions on making some ode to Raleigh type project! I sat in the glorious sun and carefully rinsed these shards of glass. My favorite piece of treasure is the white and blue stoneware dish in the middle of the top picture. I have also unearthed two new bottles from the bottom of the pecan tree (not in photos)
There are parts of old and new glass, some have writing and designs. The white dish, in the front of the bottom photo has awesome lace pattern on the edge. After washing these pieces, I went right back out into the yard and found more. I sat under the pecan tree for awhile digging the two other bottles out. It was a little nutty acting, but everyone needs to be nutty acting sometimes!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Home!

After my trip to VA i really wanted to relax and just walk around and take a few shots. I forced my hubby and furry one into going with me to the sculpture gardens. The NC Museum of Art was placed on a 25 acre plot of land that is not far from our house 10 minutes, if that. The old museum and the new museum (went there last year) are next to each other and close to the road. Behind the museums is miles of paths that link these awesome art installations. The one image at the top is my favorite from today. I also really like it because in Charlotte, my home town, the same artist created these "onion rings" at a intersection I drove through frequently.
 Vollis Simpson created this amazing Whirlygig. He was a native N. Carolinian and a welder. I do believe that he past a few years ago. I know that at his home there are at least 30 of these 10-40 ft high structures all over his yard. I have made hubby promise me that we will go there soon. I think that it is so calming to watch. The entire structure rotates and spins in the wind. It was a perfect day for it to show off.
 
I took a few pictures in the yard as well, look what bloomed while I was gone! Mah, favorite!
                                                               Sunny yellow Daffodils!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Yeah Spring!

 I played with my babe today in the yard.  Daylights savings has made it wonderful for playtime with the babe in the yard after work.  She enjoys rolling in the yard after a good session of tug-of-war. Look at how green my our grass is!
The Daffodils in yard are up everywhere, not budding quite yet. I am feeling a bit nostalgic for home because I am traveling for my job tomorrow and will be gone for a few days. I am going to miss my babe, hubby and home for the next few days.  It is awesome waking up every day to these wonderful parts of my life!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Duke Gardens


I promised to post some of the picture that I took on our day trip to Duke University. We went to The Duke gardens last weekend with my mom. I was in a early spring bloom. It was a overcast day, I was not expecting to see every part of the gardens being used. I was not really prepared that people would use it like a park; to play soccer, hold child's birthday parties, allow children to play in the water and fountains. I was expecting it to be more like an arboretum, where people tour around and look at the plants. I didn't take many pictures because there were people everywhere. It was also not  that impressed with the cleanliness of the gardens either, grass was brown, dead lawn debris was all over the paths and trash was around. I know that we had a hard winter but, all of the grass was brown, I have a bright green yard 20 minutes away. Also, I am a huge fan of bulbs, especially daffodils. There were only tiny sparse patches of them. The front part of the gardens was under construction which also lead to my feeling of lack luster. The visitor's center was small and under used. The man inside never said "hello" or looked up the entire 20 min it took me to find a map on the wall and decide where to go.
I am not sure that I will take a trip to Duke anytime soon again. Maybe we'll have more fun at Chapel Hill!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Camellias and Stamps

The Camellias are still going strong. I have picked many bouquets for the house. I wish I had a florist frog. Camellia stems are very twiggy and the heavy blossoms tend to want to turn the vase over. My Nana uses low flat vases with the frog to display hers. Out of all the vases that I have this is  the lowest, not flat at all. The frog is heavy and spiky and holds the stems just in the right spot.
We have had even more beautiful days for me to take pictures. My mom came this past weekend and I showed off my Camellias. She referred to them as a "double camellia", obviously not their technical name. She said she had not seen many like them either. I am thinking about making a stamp of a Camellia based off of one the photos. That is a daunting task.

After my birthday, I was in a strip mall that has a Trader Joe's and an awesome art store. I still had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I was all laden with bags prepared for the zoo at Trader Joe's but, found myself walking across the parking lot into Jerry's Art-a-rama. I started off humbly picking out new colors of Prisma's out of the bin. Then it hit me! I have always wanted to make stamps. I read Geninne's Art Blog and she makes amazing stamps out of Mastercarve, check her out. I am a hoarder of many things, including stamps. I never use them because I want original patterns and designs. Not sooo perfect. I have been looking for a block of Mastercarve for awhile. Ta-Da there it was. It was pricey, but I figure I'll use both sides.


After rushing through Trader Joe's, I came home and sat down and immediately made these two stamps. The "M" on one side and the Enso on the other. I love them! I cant wait to start on the Camellia.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day Trip to Duke

I live very close to Duke University. I had never had the opportunity to visit the campus. I knew that it was beautiful, this was not what I expected. We went to Durham mostly to visit a BBQ joint with my mom. It was fabulous BBQ, sorry no pics of that. We also went to Duke Gardens which were only in spring time budding. I will post pictures of the gardens later. Most of these pictures are of the Chapel in the main part of the campus. There was a wedding taking place so we were unable to go inside.  
I love the native stacked stone; the yellows against the gray blue was inspiring. It looked like a quilt with tan sashing. All of the buildings in the main part of the campus were made from this stacked native stone.
The detail in the granite surrounds was amazing. I am sure that the stain glass was way more impressive inside. We were able to walk all the way around the chapel. It sits at the top of the campus. I was very shocked at how dirty the surrounding grounds were. There was only one small quad that had pansies and dogwoods in it. The grass was non-existent else where on campus. There was trash in all of the shrubbery and a lack of pruned or maintained shrubs everywhere. We all commented on it at different occasions.  We were shocked because Duke is an old established Ivy league school, it is very expensive as well.
Duke's campus makes up for its lack of maintained lawns and overall lushness is made up with by these beautifully impressive and inspiring buildings. I am still a Tar-Heel or NC State fan, but it was neat to visit the enemy!
                                                  Awesome patterns and stone detail!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Dog is Too Happy

 This is my beautiful baby girl Kuma. She is a 7 year old American Akita. She is an extremely happy dog, as you can tell. She has a very large grassy green yard that is fenced in to run around in all day. She is all white and some how manages to keep herself very clean. She licks her self the way cats do. Its crazy. I personally have never given her a bath. My Hubby has probably 5 times. The spring weather has made her the happiest dog alive. She makes me the happiest Mama! She loves for me to take pictures of her. It generally takes Hubby standing behind me doing stupid things in order to get her to smile like this. She loves when everyone is together. She has been enjoying the recent family visits. She knew that my sister was at the door before I did. Kuma your Mama loves ya!

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