Alcohol Ink Fun

A girls day! Melissa, Mela, Sandra, Lauren and Carol. We all gathered post Christmas to converse (I can't divulge some of the unseemly topics!) and eat and create!

I decided even novice crafters could come away with a usable product...these alcohol ink coasters. 

Mary Lee demoed these for my artcgirlz group a bit ago. 

They are easy. 

Cheap.  .(.16 cents a tile at Home Depot.)

Fun. 

Each person had their own technique. 

Interesting. Cool. 

Melissa was my fave. She was all about the drip, not the pounce. 

I'll get pics of hers soon. 

Mela definitely had her own thing going on! I will, by hook or by crook, get mela to be my creative accomplice!

Snow has come to WNY.  I love the sound of it pelting my vintage aluminum awning right now. Cozy. 

I have learned:

1.  Rye toast + sliced hard boiled (farm) egg = delicious dinner. 

2.  It's almost 7 years since Sandra was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She's now involved in a pharma study. Grateful she is doing so well. 

3.  Sophia lost her first tooth on Christmas Eve!

4.  Mother Earth News magazine. Retirement + mag = much ado. 

Hope Tree

This little 8.5" x 11" piece was made for the Telephone Line project my Fiberista group worked on over the course of 2015. Reminiscent of the old whisper-around-the-room game. 

Each of us made a quilt to start a line. In the rotation, we each used the previous makers quilt to come up with our piece. May be the color story or subject matter or technique. Whatever works. 

It was truly creative and challenging . 

At our monthly meetings we'd all be thrilled to see what we had to work with in the coming month!

All pieces were kept in a large envelope. A sealed envelope!

The reveal was 81 quilts worth of inspiration. 

Most of us enjoyed it so much we are doing it again in 2016!

I have learned:

1.  Mela is not a girl. She's a sister. 

2.  Tiny Owl Knits.  Check out her knitting/felted patterns. Coveting. All. 

3.  Twin Peaks is being resurrected in 2017. Cool old TV show. 

4.  Netflix's Jennifer Jones, apparently a Marvel character, is very cool. 

Merry Christmas Time

Galleria Mall Santa (points for real beard)

Riley & Mela!

What you didn't see was me backing Riley up to Santa so he wouldn't cry again. 

What you don't see is mommy under the red blanket torquing her neck to look at the ceiling so her head wouldn't be in the pic. 

What was my heard, my diatribe I didn't have to unleash when we walked right up to the "workshop"....no line! 

Yep, it has been awhile. 

It had to be said. 

Since last I wrote, I've received good news that all four blood clots are gone and no clotting markers in my blood. Done with the thinner. 

Riley Michael, aka Cy,  just turned 1! He's our big little guy always smiling and very chill. 

Mela turned 2 in July. Her papa calls her the tornado! Exuberant should be her middle name. 

Sophia is 5 now and loving kindergarten. She's beautiful and makes a sweet big sis!

Cy came by the way of Mela when she couldn't say Ri-ri like all of us. Cy-Cy since and still. He answers to both!

Maddi turned 1 in July also. She's walking! Her laugh is hardy like her dads. 

Speaking of....Michael & Jenn relocated to Fort Benning GA after Michael graduated first in his class from Officer training school. Proud mom. 

They'll be coming up to Fort Drum NY next fall for 3 years. Will be great to see my granddaughter more!

Over the last 6 months I've been in a creative  process mode. Hexis aplenty made from used tea bags, hand dyed fabric, silk and vintage materials. 

I'm finally to a point that I feel like getting some projects done. 

1" hexagons for the background to this pic I took last summer in my yard. 

Do you see it? Loving. 

This is for a challenge that will exhibit the original pic with the piece. 

What I have learned: 

1.  9 weeks til I retire! 

2.  Audiobooks.com. Best way to squeeze in more books from the must 

"Read" list. 

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert up now. Good. 

3.  Dryer broke. Too much $$ to fix. Hanging laundry outside since...feels so domestic. Green. Free. 

4. Balanced gas billing will reflect my conservation!

5.  Cliffy ran away. He's not been back. I miss the bastard cat.