Shopping for Art supplies

Cole and I went shopping last Friday.
We just needed to get out of the house, out of the 'hood, and into some retail therapy.

We visited an area of Annapolis with some cute little shops including a quilt store and this our favorite Art Supply store!

I am into zentangles at the moment. In true fashion, one starts with materials at hand, then buys nearly everything they make for that craft. I had a great time in Art Things, while Cole visited with staff and other shoppers.

All those possibilities are like a candy store for artists.
I don't even know what to DO with half that stuff but I want it!!
I left with these...

There are a lot of books out there on this subject but this one just made my heart go pitter pat. The faber-castell pens are awesome! They also work on fabric, and we all know fabric is my obsession. The pen lays down one great black line on fabric... Marvy's The Fabric Pen. There were a lot of colors to choose from but I need your basic black. I was so excited about these supplies I went right home and made things with them, and my stamp pad on fabric. Wheeeeeee!
We toured the other stores also, and for some reason Cole REALLY  wanted to go in this one but it looked like it would be crowded and full of stuff he'd be interested in so we gave it a miss this time. Does your dog like to shop? Cole looks at every shelf in a store.

Because I "needed" fabric

gratuitous quilt store photo

We had to hot foot it out of town to escape the numerous mosquito fogging being done in our 'hood. I am highly allergic to it, so we piled in the car for an adventure. My husband always packs a book, chair, and drinks when we do this as he says he never knows where we'll end up when I am in charge of the day!

We started the day at a quilter's garage sale. Oh. My. Gosh! It was held in a garage, and quilting supplies filled the garage, and we got there an hour before closing so the promoters said there was virtually nothing left! I had a field day!! I picked up a cute little plastic box to hold my collections,

Drew set up his chair, got the book poodle and water for the duration.

I collected the following items:

and the person in charge asked each of us to make an offer.
I said $5?
She said okay.

Such a good deal, four packs of needles, bobbin thread, doll pattern, The Angler, fabric and the box.


By now we were hungry so went over to an outdoor French bistro for a salad where Cole was not the only dog sitting patiently by the table. Fortified, I said, next stop to SPAVE (spending + saving)  was Joann's because I had a 25% extra off coupon.

 Husband and poodle set up the chair, book, and water to wait again. I found this stash, all on sale already, the dotty fabric is felt, and I see another dog pin cushion http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/05/softie_scotty_d.html
in my future.
Stamps, zentangle smoothers, crystals, embellishments and a ball for Cole!

After my husband got his time in a bookstore while I did poodle duty, we were off to another adventure. We decided to visit a historic but vibrant nearby town by the name of Frederick MD so I could visit the quilt store pictured at the top.
Well! When we got to town, we discovered they were having  a street festival...

lots of musicians, the stores all open late, lots of people and cool dogs! We had a blast! I continued my spree with Needles and Pins and frugal gal that I am,

only bought these lovely fabrics in the sale room.

Cute coffee cups, companion fabrics in chocolate and my neutral lime green. The fabric on the top is one I coveted in other stores so to find it all  for $6 a yard was awesome!

The stores around here are doing a row by row pattern challenge. The first person to do something like 8 rows and quilt/finish got prizes. I know one woman who won, she visited 8 stores, sewed the 8 rows with their patterns, quilted and finished it... in a week. Not me, I'd still be dithering over fabric choices!
We took a little tea break,

and enjoyed all the main street stores and entertainments. Cole was exhausted of being cooed over and petted. I had three bags of bargains, and Drew had, well, a good time.  Next week I have pictures of Cole and I shopping at an art store! LeeAnna

 

I must read this each day...

Take Risks  8 in. X 10.5

 I love to paint on fabric and over the years have amassed a pile of my own painted scraps. Surprised??
I was looking through these hand painted scraps to print an extra gift for my pin cushion winners.
 While I was in there, I stamped a few for me... why not??
The lesson here is, no scrap is really too small for some use and hand-painted strips look different when cropped.

I chose the saying, "Always know in your heart that you are far bigger than anything that can happen to you".


(The color is a bit washed out in this close up. The color in the top photo is closer to true. Remember you can click on photos to enlarge them)

After stamping I cut out that bit, not caring if it was square. Added in the one eye, the all seeing all understanding eye for clear vision.


I knew this piece would be raw edge, not concerning myself with fraying or shape. I wanted it to be of the moment. I forced myself to work quickly and not fret too much over the details.

I had a bit of trouble deciding on a background, auditioning many fabrics. Finally I settled on a skydyes scrap, made the piece on peltex instead of batting, quilted with YLI metallic gold thread and free motion.
The beads prove no piece is too small to dither over the details!
I had the "risk" dangle for years waiting for just the right time to use it. Proving one can and should hoard supplies as you will find a great reason to use them at some point.

 The binding was put on by machine, sewed to the back, folded to the front with a turned edge, and topstitched.

I hope you like it.
I need to read it each day.
There are times that life kicks my bum, and I am dog tired of it.
 Do you ever feel like that?
As this quote says, we are bigger than these problems.

Don't always play it safe, take risks now and then.
LeeAnna

Why yes, I'll have a bowl of ice cream

 Cole enjoys ice cream.   A LOT!
We made the mistake of letting him lick a bowl once and now it's expected.
He can count to two. My husband finishes first, and Cole is there to help clean up...
Then he waits impatiently for mine. Then he forgets he had some and waits for his bowl to materialize.

 Um, my bowl seems to be empty.
Heloooooo

My. Bowl. Is. EMPTY.

Sometimes we give him a little bowl of whipped cream, which he also forgets he had.
Do the calories go away if you forget you ate?

So sad when the ice cream is gone. 

late to the zen party

Okay, so I am a little late to the Zentangle party. Our Quilt Book Study Group is learning and practicing the art of ink and paper starting with a great video. Our leader hit the pause button often as we took our next baby steps. It is just so much fun to try something new if you have friends next to you!

 First we did the little 3 inch paper that came with the kit. And it came out looking okay! I kind of like the photo taken on my porch tablecloth. I do like some color!
We tried two more exercises together, and I did them on a piece of regular paper. I like a lot of the patterns, and found myself unhappy not having enough space to play in, so I made a few outside the box! Typical...
After everyone was tired, I moved on to my favorite subject...

 Flamingos!!!  I sketched out a flamingo in my sketch pad, and began using the patterns we learned today. I like it! I even started making up my own patterning. For some reason all the many books on zentangles have overwhelmed me, so many patterns in black and white on each page, just too much. So I haven't tried it til today.

We all sketched away, not quite the zen atmosphere you want, we gripped our pens and held our tongues just so... but we all did it.

Now I am INTO it folks!

I came home and thought, what if I add some color, just a wee bit. You know how I am about color!
So, I sketched the flower, then filled it in, then got out some prismacolor pencils... and made this. Fun too. Can't wait to try this on fabric next week.

More sketching like a four year old  just a click away, oh, go see, you know you want to!

Ah, red stained glass

I'm showing you the last of my red scrappy blocks for this month's rainbow scrap challenge at
super scrappy Saturday link party  A different color is chosen each month.
This month I got out the box of red scraps. There is a lot of good energy in the color red! I feel different just working with it! Are you effected by different colors??

These are the stained glass blocks I am doing in each color, the pattern is a click away right here!

Here are some of all the colors and aren't they exciting?? We have some colors yet to come, so stay tuned.
The block calls for a thin strip of black around each but I am liking them cheek to cheek like they are here!
Enjoy your scraps! Visit the other links to see their red blocks.

I still do...

Contra dance
stolen kisses
leads to love
and marriage
This is for my dear husband Drew on the occasion of our 20th wedding anniversary. I still do... love you.

These photos are from dusty framed snapshots that sit on our shelves every day, so please excuse the graininess or reflections. Look at the love shared.

This in on the coast of N. CA

We met at a contra dance in Fl, and spent the week basking in each other's company.(check out a contra post here!) Despite Drew telling me he wasn't good at letter writing, we kept in touch. So much so that we were engaged within 3 months and married within a year.

Ah San Fransisco, look at those newlyweds! So glad the wedding is over and they can start their lives.

 Both relieved to find the person who wants and supports and cares for them so very much. A place to belong. A family. These two didn't think about 20 years from that date and all they would go through together in the mean time. They just knew it was good to be together.
We still prefer each other's company.

We've traveled many places, including this birthday trip for me to Newport RI when Cole was an infant.

We have experienced loss and wins and daily life together.
Drew is the one I want to tell my story to at the end of each day.
During our courtship, which was long distance MA to FL, we spoke nearly every day, wrote letters, one of us received flowers regularly, and saw each other when we could. All looking toward the day when we would live together.

We have a few pictures on shelves, but we have many more mental pictures of the moments that make up our life together. We have many stories to share at the end of the day.
I am continually grateful for our love.
 Love, LeeAnna
look at this cute picture from last year  click here!