embroidered shirt

yesterday i put away my wool sweaters and got out my spring wardrobe. this is one of my favorite pieces: a thrift store shirt come alive with embroidery

button paintings

paintings of buttons. for the visual studies part of the opus BA, we have to take a photo of a group of things in analogous colors on an analogous background and then paint it. i am a real beginner at painting, but had a great time doing this. i also love the look and feel of the pallette after i am finished mixing colors.

granny triangles - crochet

one more crafty habit...crochet. these granny triangles started out to be a blanket for the couch. since my hubby likes thing in shades of blue i thought it would be funny to make an orange and pink blanket for him to use when cuddling up in the living room. after a while i got tired of making so many triangles. what to do with a UFO? use it to embellish something else. so i sewed it on to a boring grey sweater. voila!

traveling sock monkeys

one of my best little buddies, jack, is here sleeping with is friends the seven deadly sins sock monkeys. he fell fast asleep on new year's eve, just missing the fireworks over the baltimore harbor.









since his sock monkey friends are now living far away in portland maine, we decided to have them travel, via the post office, and take turns having regular sleep overs at jack's house. the sock monkeys are keeping a travelogue of their journeys.





here is toothache, just back from a visit to baltimore. he returned covered in lots of dog hair, so i know he had a good time there.















now it's shut-up's turn to spend a few days with jack. bye! hope you have a fun time.

error function

some opus practice. these are made of dripped water color paint on paper. the paper is surfaced with gel medium, so i could stitch on it


the top two photos are playing with the mathematical term ' error function.' seems to me that it applies to things other than math, too.















in the bottom photo, i had picked up some scraps of embroidery thread from the table and hand-stitched them on under some netting. when i was almost finished, i saw the shape of a women in the threads...so i added a heart.

traveling sock monkeys

well, big hiney, the love of my life, arrived safely in baghdad. as you can see he has a little jet lag and needed some pop tarts and a nap. the pop tarts were a big shock to his system, as he is only used to eating chick peas and tofu, but i guess he will adjust. i think he misses irritable terribly, but...all will be well. love, love, love!

today i am being a fauve. this is a copy i just did of georges rouault's 'head of a woman' 1939. rouault, was a french painter who showed with the fauves, but i think he was not actually considered a fauve. so maybe i am altering art history here. anyway, i love the faces he paints. gives me inspiration.

another patched pair of pants. these didn't need patching, but i love to take a piece of an old sweater, some felt and embroidery thread and put it together on something.

playing with water color paints and adding texture.

here are the beginning diary pages. scroll down to see others i posted a week or two ago. eventually this will be a book.
























i have a yellow beetle named 'lukyduk' (my vanity tags). she is my favorite car so far.

the most BEEOOtiFULL girl in the world. this is lindie, my honeybee! here she is making her first sock monkey. I LUB U.

what is this? painting in the snow. my opus tutor, james hunting (http://www.jameshunting.com), likes me to make things big and loose. so here it is big and loose painting in the snow. it's fun to try! i am pretty sure he is going to tell me now to stitch it. so i will do that and show you in a future post.

oh...and, thanks for saving me from the lobster pot. happy travels!

big hiney is going on a trip. BYE!

stitching on paper - a first for me. this is part of an opus exercise, which combines making marks on paper and then stitching on it. i coated the paper with matte medium to give it some durability. i like the feel of stitching on paper.

one crafty habit leads to another... i used to make lots of purses from RECYCLED stuff. this is one i saved for myself to use. it is made from stuff found at thrift stores and yard sales. the tie (purse strap) was absconded from my hubby's closet. ties work well in a second life as a purse strap, as they are soft on your neck and shoulders, durable and often tacky.

time to get back to OPUS homework. here is a pen and ink drawing i did of my linen closet. i liked doing this and if you had asked me a few years ago if i would like to draw, i would have said, "no" instantly - especially the idea of drawing the inside of a closet - you gotta be kidding! with the encouragement of two textile artists, and lots of really good teachers (at community college), i not only learned to draw, but learned to love to draw.

big hiney's story

a simple day in the life of big hiney and irritable: waiting for friends at the ferry, a visit to hamilton marine for sailing stuff... oh wait! hiney has to save irritable from the evil chain saw. ok, now it's time for lunch. and after all that some lovin'. what a great day. too bad i couldn't get all the photos in the right order.


























































here is big hiney's story: he is made of a real sock that this blogger lovingly wore for a few years - a comfy sock made by pine tree knits and purchased at the maryland sheep and wool festival. eventually, the heel wore out. and so in making big hiney, the hole in the heel had to be covered, which in a sock monkey is the butt. this got me to thinking...while hiney's hat says LOVE, which he really is full of, he is also a big hiney behind his back - a big hiney who wears his heart on his sleeve that coincidentally has his favorite girl's initials.

here is irritable with the love of her life, big hiney. they are cuddling up because even tho it is april, there is still snow on the ground in portland, maine. irritable LOVES big hiney and they often have mortal misfortunes. some of their misfortunes will be posted here from time-to-time.

so to keep with the theme of the blog, here is a sock monkey. she is my alter ego 'irritable.' irritable is one of the seven deadly sins sock monkeys, of which there are more than 7. stay tuned for some mortal misfortunes of irritable and her very good friend...coming soon!

happy bday to my precious precious first born! here we are biking the big apple together. luv uuuu.