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7.17.2011

Hmmmmmm - I'm a Little Behind....

No wise cracks please. 

My behind is littler than it was a year ago...

And I know I'm slow to get a joke - or figure out what's going on  - sometimes....

But I'm talking about posting!


The internet was down for about a week and I got used to staying away from the computer. (That's a good thing).

I've also been verrrry busy in the play room...(that's a GReat thing)!

A couple years ago, I used up 'extra' paint on muslin and drew - with a paint brush - a palm tree / beach scene.



I didn't get a picture before I began stitching, but since the paint was rather faint, I decided to fill in with free motion stitching - and a little highlighter marker for the sun's reflection.



It has a crooked border...which bothered me for a minute...but I feel nothing but happy when I look at it. (PS - I dyed the border fabric using wonderful Ellen Anne Eddy's wonderful technique).



Can't decide if I like the back side or front side better...


I've been playing in my Sketchbooks too. Actually, they're art journals and, as with everything I do with fabric, - it's all about fun, practice, trying something new...and fun. 

 
Oh - and did I say FUN?!?


I'm always looking for pictures of things I think I can draw or paint. This idea for this bird came off a birthday card. On the card he was squashed by a BD cake laden with candles. Here - I'm not sure what his problem is!


 The ongoing project from Florida...


Where I took every scrap of paper 


& lots of other stuff and glued it into my journal while on vacation. I'm still adding color and sketches to those pages. 





But they're getting done little by little...


It's fun to work on these while Sophia is here watching cartoons. I get a lot of ideas from her TV channels (and books) and I'm learning Spanish to boot!


I bought an American calendar for a quarter while at a thrift store in Florida and got ideas from it...




And then there are those pages where I have NO idea where I'm going and don't know when to stop...




Often, when my Colombian Quilt Group meets each week, one of the girls will be auditioning fabric for her next project. 


One day I asked if any of them used value finders to help choose fabrics and they said they didn't. So I went home and made them each a red value finder since I happened to have the acetate on hand.


Then, I went to the computer to make sure I was calling them the right thing and found out something I didn't know.


When I first saw value finders at a quilt store - years ago - I couldn't afford the extra money for the set. They always came in sets of red and green.


A couple years after that, I saw them again and decided to look for the paper in an art store, which I did, and ended up buying a yard each of red and green acetate. 


I went home and looked at fabric through the acetate but didn't understand what I was looking for. I just knew that what I thought was a "dark" with the naked eye, was often a medium through the value finder. Or a medium turned out to be a light...etc, etc.


Well, in my ignorance of color - and of how the value finders work, I decided I only needed the red - and made myself a crude viewfinder with a cardboard border and broken ruler handle which I used off and on for years.


So...you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that you need both the red and green acetate because red doesn't work on red fabrics and green doesn't work on green!


Back to the drawing board playroom I went and made them each one with green.




I attached them by sewing a loop of fabric to the corners and slipped on a ring (on the loop) to hang them by...




Fun huh?!?


I got to use up scraps and get the joy of giving them a little gift next time we met. 


:)


Now...it's time to go make something. All this looking at pictures has gotten me excited!!! I can always catch up another time.


As Mark Twain said, "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow".


One last picture before I go...




This was taken of me 11 years ago...for my business cards when I sold Real Estate. It's the real me. :)

I've been "cleaning" house and unbelievably getting rid of pictures. ME - throwing away pictures!!! Imagine that!!!

I'm scanning in my favorites and saving them to disc. And while I don't want to go back there...this one reminded me of the FACT that I can do ANYTHING.


The world is at my feet!


But that's a whole nother post...


Create Your Life,


annie!

15 comments:

  1. Goodness Annie! what a wonderful post...I've heard of value finders, but never knew how to make one...thanks for that as I will have a go when I can find some red and green acetate. cheers, ann.

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  2. It makes me happy to hear a bout all the wonderful creative time you spend in your studio! I know how happy it makes YOU! I'm managing to stay busy and creative, but not in any way I ever dreamed. I'm having fun with the pre fused quilt kits for our business - Kids Quilt Too! and now I'm turning towards more mixed media techniques to make it more interesting. I'm working on rubbing plates and pastel dye sticks for it now and hope to finish my first one for the biz real soon. It's frustrating to restrict the design limitations to what the kids are capable of doing when I want to add more and more and more! You know! Chris and I have five quilt shows we'll be vending at, beginning in Jacksonville in September, Atlanta in November, and three more in January, February and March in the Ft. Myers area. Saw that you liked the elephant - cool! We put him on some postcards we hard made up - he arrives with a smile! Wink Wink! Take care and keep creating! Hi to Jerry - PS LOVE your realty pic - what a glamour gal! Miss you, Carol

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  3. Cool wall hanging! It looks like you have night and day going on there! So depending on your mood (or time of day) just turn it over! LOL
    Have fun in the ‘play room’!

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  4. Annie !!! SOOOOOO FUN :D It's really fun to see so much stuff going on here and how cool to see your gorgeous pic !!!! So glad we 'met' XD
    XOXOXO !

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  5. Hi Carol! It's great to hear from you and I am ALWAYS thankful for you because you've always inspired me...and not just with your art! I knew your business would take off and LOVE the elephant! Can't wait to see what you come up with next. Hi to Carl too and we'll see you in December! Love you...

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  6. Hey Robin! Thanks again for your positive, encouraging comments! I actually CAN flip that one over depending on my mood! Keep up your fabulous blog and sketching.

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  7. Hi Sung-Hee! I'm happy that we met too! You're joyful, exuberant spirit always lifts me and I love your art! Hugs to you and your girls...

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  8. ANNIE!

    I agree with rcwdesigns - it's sunrise/sunset!

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  9. oh, your pages look very funny to do :-)

    It's always a good thing when we stay away from pc..I'm a addicted , i confess!

    Thanks for let a message on my blog!

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  10. Thank you Gio!!! I love your comment. It makes me happy. I'll be watching your blog!

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  11. PS - for anyone interested...Gio's blog is Scrap In Progress....found here... http://giogioscrap.blogspot.com/

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  12. HI Annie- Did you actually make it to Fl this year? I wondered because as I looked through all of your unbelievable art I saw that you mentioned buying an American calendar in FL. Anyway, glad to see you still visit my blog. I was away so long that when I came home I really got busy writing and creating. I look at my heart that you gave me everyday (its in my Buddhas lap) and i think abiot whenI can send you some art from me and when we;ll actualy meet. By the way, I recently cleaned and threw out photos too-but none of myself because, beleive it or not, I don't even have many. I think you look like a lovely woman of the 80's in your real-estate photo but there's a warmth and beauty that your face has now that outweighs who you were then. I think aging is lovely; I'm a weird one I guess. Take care and keep making the world a more beautiful place by continuing to create something each day! Namaste, Pam

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  13. Hi Pam! It's great to hear from you. We did get to FL in March but it was a whirlwind trip. We plan to return in November/December and think we'll stay in the same place for the whole duration. St Pete Beach if all works out the way we want it to. Hope we can get together then. I don't have many pix of me either and the one above is SO not me...I was tongue in cheek when I said it was the real me. I'm happy to be where, who, how and everything I am...right NOW. I've always loved old people and it's a good thing...because I'm becoming one! (Of course I still have a long way to go). I'm so happy you like your heart and I'll let you know - as soon as I know - where, what , when. Keep writing that awesome poetry.

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Yuckola. More than half of my email has been from anonymous, so.....