Mama's Bag

I made this purse for my mama. She came to visit last weekend and we just hung out around Raleigh, eating good food and  doing a bit of shoe shopping. My mama just retired from her state job of 30 years! I am so proud of her. She seems so excited about the future ahead. If I retired I would buy myself a new sewing machine and sew away. 

This bag has the inside is the top of blue jeans that I recycled. I just sew the zipper and legs closed. It makes great pockets with out all the work. I cut the leg of jeans into strips and make these awesome bowls. I like how the stripes are on the side pleat and strap.

Here are the morning glories that are creeping up my fence still. They are amazingly resilient through the blazing summer and hung on into the fall. I still have slugs chewing up the leaves. I have been excited to turn off the A/C and open up the windows. Happy Fall Ya"ll !

All Complaints Aside

 I was recently complaining about how the nasty heat has killed my oasis of a backward. I failed to mention that my yard is full of blooms. We have a crape myrtle in the front yard that is going nuts.

 Along the fence in the back I still have sunflowers, the smaller ones now. The morning glories took over this sunflower stock. Oh I love that dark purple!

This is the real beauty. This is our potted Hibiscus that was headed for a dumpster. When my hubby brought it home it was two sticks off a nub of a trunk. It has been with us for years and only bloomed once before that I recall. Hubby put coffee grounds in it this summer and it went nuts. I counted 12 buds the other day. She is a real beauty now, so green and bushy too. The summer hasn't been so harsh on some things... they actually seem to love it. Just wish I did.

The Rose Garden

 This lovely rose garden is blocks from work and is tucked behind The Raleigh Theater.
 I had too much fun taking pictures today. The sun had a great cloud filter today. The Garden was filled with flower gazers and picture takers. It is an awesome gem!

 Kuma really liked it too! She kept putting her nose in the air.

                                                  These blooms were as big as my face!

                                                Check out all the colors and varities.

                                                              Me and my sweet potato.
                                     On a side note: This is one of my most fave dresses ever!  My grandmother gave it to me years ago. I always thought it was an aunts...Nana recently told me otherwise. It is a Lilly Pultizer vintage 1960's. It is not in great condition, stains, broken zipper, ciggarette burn, frayed hem, odd straps. I thankfully did not do any of this damage...I could never forgive myself. I love the seersucker weight fabric and the print! It just so happens that it fits me perfectly. I wont give it up. It is also yellow which I love!

Henna Designs

 I am in love with using Henna. I get it from my favorite one-stop-shop, Sugar Magnolia. They have tubes of the pre-mixed Henna for $4.50. I have seen it for $15 at big craft stores, of course those are crazy colors that don't last as long. I love the traditional rust red color that it turns into anyway. I have seen many customers using it, they have amazing detailed patterns.  I started off looking a few design books that Sugar has. The patterns and images on flickr were inspirational as well. I noticed that no two were remotely the same. Then it makes it so much more personal if the designer creates their own patterns.
I love flowers and mandala circles. I did use a few key design elements from the images I saw on flicker, the dark three leaves and lotus pattern can be seen. The rest I came up with as I went along.  It took me about 40 minutes to complete the mini sleeve. The tube squeezes out a very consistent thin line. Much like a pastry bag to put on icing. Start big... the smaller your pattern the harder it is. It can be wiped off with minimal stain with in 1-3 minutes of application. Keep paper towel near by to dab the tip on or wipe away crazy lines.

Now, sit still. I find it is a very calming meditative task. I don't find it hard to sit for a while holding my arm up awkwardly, my hubby thinks I am nuts for taking the time to do something that takes forever  to dry and only lasts 4-5 days if you don't scrub it. Mind you that is coming from a guy that has a few large tattoos. I am sorry I am just not into pain. This just tickles and you have to sit still for awhile. Its a cheap summer creative fun.
I used about 2/3 of the tube. I just put the yellow pin back in and put in a baggie to use later. I keeps for awhile in a normal temp. environment.

These images are of after it sat on my skin for about 20 minutes. It is dry to the touch but has a nice crust formed. After this happens you can move a bit more freely. Try not to peel it off at this point. The longer that you and leave it on at this point the darker that it is when you peel it off. You can tell when it is done because the lines crack and little pieces flake off. Patience and sitting still is key to having clean dark lines.

This is the next day. I actually leave it on all night. I would not recommend doing this, you will wake up with little black pieces in the sheets. As Leah puts it, little ants.

I love it on my finger tips. I thought it was really interesting that they black out their fingerprints in some of the traditional patterns. I need to find out why...Do you know?



I had to throw in a precious furry face that sat next to me the whole time to feed her. She has patience for days!

Oh My, Its April?

Wow, March disappeared.  I have had grand intentions of trying to be better about blogging at least once a week, Ooops! Well, I am here now and that is what counts right? April started off cold, I was very concerned about the tulips that my hubby planted would not make it! Not all, but a lot did. I had yellow, dark pink and these orange tulips everywhere. It was super nice because they came in right after the daffodils finished up. I adore this shot of the tulips tucked in between the trunks of pecan trees. My hubby gets rather whimsical in his seed/ bulb placement. He was sooo excited about these coming up between the trees. I was a tad late in taking the shots. Most of the tulips have fallen open.  However, it makes for an awesome display of colors. I hope to use the shot above in some artwork or masthead. I promise that I will try not to have just trees and flowers to show you. To be honest though, flowers, nature, and trees are a huge part of my life. I incredibly fortunate to live in N. Carolina surrounded by green and flowers. They are inspiring in many ways!

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!

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!

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.

Sunny Days

We have had some beautiful days in NC lately. This is is a shot of Hubby and I sitting in the new part of the backyard. It was a sunny warm day, but the wind was a little crazy. I sat in the grass for awhile. he joined me. I love this shot because as we sat there talking I was taking incognito shots. We both look so happy to be sitting in the sun.  Grey sweatshirts and black sunglasses. The trees behind us are so bare and windblown. The sky so blue with whispy white clouds.

My house only gets sun on the front door for about hour. I never seem to be home for this  occasion. Today I was there! Such a cute color scheme with detail on the porch.

When the new fence in the yard went up, I just about had a serious heart failure. I looked out the laundry room window and thought this beautiful treasure had been cut down. Just one limb was lopped off, to my relief. Another tree is growing in it as well. I am unsure of the other type of tree. I know what this one tree is for many reasons. It is a Camellia.  This is a particular variety that I am not familiar with. My Grandmother, Nana, has many variety in her yard. However, they are not like mine. A more typically variety was planted at my Mom's family plot. Unfortunately, someone was allowed to cut that tree down. Possibly, the angst behind seeing chopped one in my yard.  My mom has one in her yard now. So does my Dad. I have to say the ones at my Nana's house are huge 15 ft bushes and there must be 4 varieties  that have impressively different blooms. They bloom at different times during the chilly weather with multiple shades. I am in heaven, I have never seen a Camellia tree that blooms like this! It is an amazing display!

Camellias are dripping off of this tiny tree. I love how it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

While sitting in the yard I asked Hubby to pull this out of the ground. It is says that it is a Seltzer Drug Bottle. I think that there must be 6 more buried in the base of the pecan tree. The bottles are small, no bigger than my hand. My yard is even more like Alice in Wonderland. Bottles in the bottom of trees.

Seriously missing summer!

I miss summer. I am wanting to make a quilt that has a summer theme. Flowers, beach, I don't know i am looking through past summers photos. I like these. I don't know how they would transfer to a quilt.
The yellows make me really happy!
I am hoping this task will cheer me up.

The Arboretum

We visited the NC State Arboretum this lovely cool summer day! Check out the glory that is oh so close to my home.