Snow Day

I love the smell of snow.  I never remember this until the first flakes begin to fall and then it hits me.  I forget how cold and wet everything will be and that slushing around will be a pain.  I just stop in my tracks and breath deeply enjoying the crispness of the air as it fills my lungs.  We were spared the Blizzard of 2016 due to our terrain -we are in the valley- but all around us got their fair share and ours as well.  

We did have some snow earlier in the week, which is all it takes to shut down our little city, so we took a snow day and I was able to enjoy the picture window view and creating.  I made the piece above out of a book from which I had already procured the covers.  I used the scroll saw to cut the curve and was reminded why one should always wear your safety glasses as the blade busted and spoinged across the workshop. I glued the curve closed to add stability, leaving a few pages free to soften the edge.  The wire flowers are made form left over book pages, dabbed with a bit of chalk for interest, and pushed into the spine. It's kind of odd but I really like the way it looks as it rocks back and forth.  This is one of the pieces I will be putting in our art show in March.

I signed up today for this year's art class at Arrowmont. I have my reservations made at BFF's house, so room and transportation are covered. I have been a very lucky girl and as long as Husband loves me enough to carry the work and house load without me for the week I hope to keep on being a lucky girl. In this class I will be learning how to use "simple mechanical motion"- gears, cams, pistons and pulleys-along with some carving and joinery.  I am excited!!!

It's time to walk the dog and call my mother.

Peace,

Hilari

Poor Formulation of Process

I love the fact that I can walk into my craft room and usually find what I need to make me happy.  I have a tenancy to get into a project with a full head of steam and then out of the blue, or poor formulation of process, I need something...a certain size of paper, the right color thread, a hammer, ect.  Because I have been blessed with craft store gift cards over the years, my wonderful family have greatly assisted me in setting up an art stash tailored to my tastes.  I am a very lucky girl.  This came into play last weekend.  Our book making club has been invited to have a show in March with nature as part of the theme.  With this moving around in the back of my mind I plucked a couple of magnolia leaves to play around with.

The pages are from a book from which I had already re-purposed the cover and ripped to follow the leaf shape. I used the coptic stitch to hold the signatures together and a simple stitch to attach the leaves.  As I worked through the process, the pages felt like they needed a little something, so I scurried to my stash and pulled out my box of soft chalks.  I used these to add a bit of pop to the text paper and edges.  It finished it up nicely and I like the way it lays open with out any effort.

Now for the poor formulation of process...Our show is not for weeks and weeks, so how am I going to keep the leaves looking fresh.  I have already noticed some degeneration so I feel it will be a lost cause. The pages are shaped to fit the leaves so I am in kind of a pickle.  I feel the way to handle it will be to take bi-weekly pictures to show the degeneration process and just pretend that was the plan all along.

As January rolls around and New Year's resolutions beg to be made, it is time to take stock of what is important.  My resolutions this year are simple...take time to taste chocolate not just gobble it down, look at the stars while taking the dog out for his evening constitutional, and really stop to look at the beauty in things be it a flower or a busted vase.  So far, so good. We all have enough worldly pressures so placing more on ourselves, especially in the sun deprived, dreary cold, seems very counter productive to me. So it is off to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie and a partly cloudy night sky.

Find what makes you happy and enjoy!
Hilari