Memories...

When I was a kid ...

not that long ago!

I had a long bus ride back and forth from school.  

As I stitched on the little mushrooms in this piece 

I remembered drawing in the condensation on the bus windows ....

mushrooms, happy faces, peace signs 

and didn't everyone make "Hang Ten" feet with the 

side of your hand and fingertips for the toes???

Of course, now happy faces are called emoji ...

go figure?

"Tree of Life"
The next design in my series of The Nine,
Just how much can you pack into a five inch square design??
Don't ask!
Class sign ups are ongoing for this piece!
The first of two will be April 9 at
The Black Sheep Shop
in Orlando.
Call or click away for info.

Basketweave beading with a few ribbon flowers tossed in.
My tree has tiny little beaded Bluebirds too!

I know many of you are afraid of ribbon embroidery ...
BUT! If ... you can relax with it,
you'll change your own mind. 

Beads, little stump work with felt, polka dots for fun,
and my mushrooms from the sixties ... bus windows.

BONUS!
Happy Easter!!
Emma will be two very soon! This adorable picture
was after her very first Easter Egg Hunt!
She is the sweetest granddaughter ever!

Tree of Life

Seems appropriate to blog about my

Tree of Life 

today, on this first day of spring!

Tree of Life
is the third in my series of The Nine.
The first class will be held April 9th
at
The Black Sheep Shop 
in Orlando!
Call or Click the link for information.

Cute, just cute!

Played with different backgrounds again.
Darning dots on the left,
Couching to the right...
and a little bit of felt with beads & ribbon embroidery.

You can see the two different backgrounds really well here.
The quilt 'ish' looking circle will be mostly beads!!

Next up in The Nine series...
Happy Little Bug!
I have some really fun threads pulled for this
and of course,
some wild ideas on how to stitch it!

building...

Time to create new designs 

and 

stitch guides....

Looking back and designing forward!

Bead and bullions...of course.
Stitching on my Tree of Life!

I do love playing with ribbon!

Reviewing last week...

Most of you know about the 7 day challenge on Facebook...

below are my seven.

It was a fun challenge, didn't involve any 

restrictions on diet or large amounts of exercise!

And I found pieces I'd forgotten about.

Many have posted, what I call "vintage pieces" of mine.

It was a blast to see them popping up on my wall!

"Camel Flowers"©

My Biscornu Collection!

"Provence Purse"©

"Blossom"©

"Movement"©

"Austintatious Peacock"©

"Flying Jewels"©

"Yes, I'm Special"©
Voila! Fini!!
Wish you could see how much he sparkles!
Class starts Saturday March 5th!
at The Black Sheep Shop
in Orlando!

the eyes have it....

There is still time to sign up for this class at 

The Black Sheep Shop 

[click for details]

"Yes, I'm Special"
Peacock feather eyes, that is!
Just having a little fun!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that,
topped off with sequins and Swarovski crystals!
This bird is blinged out and oh so special.

Evening sanity check.
Chocolate Vineyard makes all
the other colors pop!

It's NOT cold here by a stretch.
Not compared to what my northern
friends are experiencing this month.
But he doesn't know that.

happenings in the studio...

Emma and Mimi colored ... a lot this week!
Crayons, stickers, oh yeah!

Playing in the fountain is as much fun
as playing with bubbles...
even in the rain!

Some stitching occurred during naps
or while watching a few toons here and there.
The evenings were quick as this one was fairly worn out!

Breakfast at Tiffany's aka GG's
love my grandbaby's variety of expressions!

See ... changes every instant!

My Girls!
My so very beautiful daughter and my
so very silly grandbaby!

Mimi tried to wear her out before
their flight back home.
Thank you to Dada for letting us
have them both for a week!
See that grip Mama has on her,
what a giggle she is!

Class Time in Orlando!

The first of my series

'The Nine"

Movement©

Not all of us received the striped shirt memo
but we had a great class regardless!
This was the second class for the first of my Nine series
with The Black Sheep Shop in Orlando.

Our Girl Friday!
Anne Jones!
This woman is a true gem!
Not only was she in the middle of
moving the shop...but she held class for us!
And yes, she was smiling through it all!

Wanda's busy hands discovering how fun it is to
stretch, twist, & bunch silk wrapped pearl purl.

Erica, also having fun couching this fun real metal thread.

NEVER let it be said I'm not taken care of!
Inside this wonderful bag were
three Chocolate Chip Cookies
from my friends at
Sugarbuzz Dezert Company
When Anne ordered cookies for lunch, they made sure
to include something special for me. Yay!

Next up is the peacock titled...
"Yes, I'm Special"
Watch for stitching updates soon!
Class is scheduled for the first and last
Saturday in March.
Click on the shop link above for details.

a Zen week...

This week has been wonderful...

to be honest, most of them are!

What made this week different?

First of all, I taught in Orlando on Saturday.

Always awesome. I love the back and forth with students.

Building a background...
one of my students saw this and her first thought was
'Can you do this"!!??
The second was
"I love it"!
Made my day!
This is the next piece in The Nine series I'm teaching for
The Black Sheep Shop in Orlando.
Titled
"Yes, I'm Special!"

It was past time to take Christmas down....
which always leaves the place looking plain,
a downer for me. I miss the twinkle lights!
But...this year I had a new piece of art to hang & this I love!
He's called The Diver
by
Siyeh Glass
Two talented artisans, one glass, one metal.
So I have a little different twinkle in the studio now.
My Mom gave him to me, purchased through
Brooke Pottery

Sorry...can't show the entire piece yet...soooooon!
I've loved working on this piece
in every spare moment I had this week.
Also loving the technology available
whilst I paint.
I can listen to my favorite music
and message with friends.
Zen and still connected,
very grounding.

always evolving...

I mentioned on an Instagram post how 

a design sometimes evolves 

past my original thoughts and the notes 

I keep while stitching. 

Below is a prime example of how 

a design finished and set aside for 

several years after publishing, 

can do just that!

"Sunburst"©
This is a charted piece I released in 2003.

Which I bounced off of for my
Magic Carpet© floor painting....

Which I then decided to turn into a Magic Carpet© cushion!